Suzanne Watson MD, MDiv, MEd

Del Mar Psychiatry

Compassionate care for your mental health

Suzanne Watson MD, MDiv, MEd
Del Mar Psychiatry
In-Person Appointments & Telemedicine Available
317 14th Street, Suite D
Del Mar, CA 92014

858-755-1901   Main

855-276-8078   Fax


Additional Information

6 Years

in practice

Female

Languages

  • English

Additional Information

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About

Dr. Watson came to medicine as a second career after 10+ years of ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church where she served in congregations in California, New Zealand and Connecticut, as well as on the staff of the Presiding Bishop in New York. She was also a candidate for Bishop of Alaska.

She attended medical school in her 20's, but left to devote time to raising her family. However, her dream of practicing medicine never died, and at the age of 50 she embarked on this vocational change. Part of her motivation was the loss of her physician husband to suicide. She is strongly committed to mental health advocacy, the reduction of stigma, and suicide prevention.

She completed her undergraduate degree at UCSD, and has Master's degrees from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Church Divinity School of the Pacific at Berkeley. She spent two years of her residency at the University of Cincinnati in a combined Family Medicine-Psychiatry program and completed her training in Psychiatry at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is returned to her hometown of Del Mar, California in August, 2021 to work at the VA hospital in La Jolla as a staff psychiatrist. She is currently working remotely part time as a staff psychiatrist for the San Francisco VA, and as a psychiatrist in her own practice, Del Mar Psychiatry, in Del Mar, California. 

Additionally, Dr. Watson is a Captain in the United States Army Reserves Medical Corp where she serves as a psychiatrist.

Particular areas of interest include depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, complicated grief (especially following suicide), PTSD (including trauma from military service and NEXUS letters), integration of mental/physical/spiritual health, and LGBTQ+/gender affirming care.


For those interested in becoming patients: CLICK HERE


Work Experience

  • San Fransisco VA Medical Center
    Staff Physician, Outpatient psychiatry
    TELEMEDICINE Only
    2023 - Present

  • VA San Diego Healthcare System
    Staff Physician, Outpatient psychiatry
    Chula Vista, California
    2021 - 2023

Education

  • University of Nevada, Reno
    Resident, Categorical Psychiatry
    Reno, Nevada

  • University of Cincinnati
    Double Board Residency, Family Medicine and Psychiatry
    Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Wake Forest School of Medicine
    Doctor of Medicine
    Winston-Salem, North Carolina

  • Church Divinity School of the Pacific/Graduate Theological Union
    Master of Divinity
    Berkeley, California

  • California Polytechnic State University
    Master of Education, Counseling and Education
    San Luis Obispo, California

  • University of California at San Diego
    Bachelor of Arts, Biology
    La Jolla, California


Certifications

  • Board Certified  by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
  • Clozapine REMS, Registered Provider
  • Office-Based Buprenorphine Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Training/Certificate
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Trained in NeuroStar TMS Therapy System

Memberships

  • American Medical Association
  • American Psychiatric Association
  • American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists
  • American Academy of Family Physicians (North Carolina, Ohio and National Chapters)
  • Psychiatry Interest Group, Wake Forest School of Medicine (President 2016-2017)

Honors & Awards

  • University of Nevada Reno
    Outstanding Resident Educator Award

  • Wake Forest University
    Awarded Outstanding Medical Student in Psychiatry for the graduating class of 2017

  • Arnold P. Gold Foundation
    Nominated by peers and voted unanimously by the faculty at Wake Forest University School of Medicine  into the Gold Humanism Honor Society

  • Marc Amaya Award for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
    Submitted winning essay selected by unanimous vote of the North Carolina Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists.

  • Scholarships
    Wake Forest Medical Scholars Fund Award (all years), Annie L. Cannon Scholarship (2014 and 2015)

Affiliations

  • San Francisco VA Medical Center
  • Voluntary Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCSD School of Medicine


Accepted Insurances

  • Not accepting insurance at this time

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Payment Options

  • American Express
  • Discover
  • MasterCard
  • Visa


Publications

Residency:

Medical School:
  • Advisor: Rahn Kennedy Bailey, M.D., Chair Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine (2015)
    Assisted in compilation of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded training entitled Mental Health Care Disparities and Public Policy: Disparities, Stigma and the Status Quo
  • Advisor: Kristen Zeller, M.D., Department of Surgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine (2015)
    Wrote and submitted poster abstract for the American College of Surgeons entitled We Priests are the Surgeons of Souls

Locations

Suzanne Watson MD, MDiv, MEd

Del Mar Psychiatry
In-Person Appointments & Telemedicine Available
317 14th Street, Suite D
Del Mar, CA 92014

Phone: 858-755-1901
Fax: 855-276-8078

Sunday Closed
Monday 8:00 - 5:00
Tuesday 8:00 - 5:00
Wednesday 8:00 - 5:00
Thursday 8:00 - 5:00
Friday 8:00 - 5:00
Saturday Closed
Del Mar Psychiatry