Department of Psychiatry

Terry McMahon, M.D.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine Dean Steven L. Berk, M.D., has announced the appointment of Terry McMahon, M.D., as the new chair of the Department of Psychiatry.

The new Department of Psychiatry was approved by the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents in May 2008. McMahon assumed interim leadership in September.

"Dr. McMahon is an outstanding physician and teacher as well as a proven administrator," Berk said. "The department maintains an accredited residency program, and he has been actively involved in recruiting new faculty and strengthening partnerships with University Medical Center and Covenant Health System. I anticipate Dr. McMahon will continue to excel in his service to our school of medicine."

McMahon received his medical degree from the UCLA School of Medicine and completed his residency training at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center and also served as chief resident at San Antonio. In 1982, after completing a fellowship in Consultation/Liaison Psychiatry at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and Medical Center Hospital of Vermont, he joined the faculty of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha. He received tenure in 1988 and achieved the rank of full professor in 1994. During his years on faculty, McMahon has been instrumental in the operations of both the department and the TTUHSC School of Medicine.

Still maintaining an active clinic schedule, he has become a well-published scholar and has overseen many areas of the educational program most recently serving as the associate dean for Resident and Student Affairs. In this role, he worked closely with the development of policy and procedure for students and residents and has been a vital contributor to the LCME Steering Committee.

Elizabeth Davidson, M.D.

Dr. Elizabeth Davidson holds a Master's Degree in Physical Biochemistry from the University of New Mexico, and graduated from medical school there in 1982. She completed two years of Internal Medicine training at University of New Mexico Hospitals, and worked at public health clinics for several years before returning for a Psychiatry residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She did a research fellowship in Psychiatry at UNC, and completed psychiatry training in 1993. After being in private practice in Lubbock for several years, she began work as a staff psychiatrist for Lubbock Regional Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center in 1998, and was the Medical Director there for over two years. She is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians, and the Society for Clinical Psychopharmacology, from which she holds certification as a Psychopharmacologist.

She was appointed as Clinical Assistant Professor of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center November 6th, 2006, and joined the Psychiatry Department on December 1, 2008.

Phyllis Peterson, P.A.-C.

Peterson completed Physician Assistant training at the University of Washington in Seattle in August 1980. She obtained a Masters in Physician Assistant Science in Psychiatry in 1999 from the University of Nebraska. Ms. Peterson worked in primary care and in a private psychiatric clinic in central Washington for several years before moving to Salem, Oregon where she practiced primary care and psychiatry at a state school. In 1994, Ms. Peterson began working at TTUHSC, providing psychiatric care in a correctional hospital. She also worked part time for the last several years for Lubbock Regional Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center. She also has provided preceptor ship for TTUHSC PA students in psychiatry. Ms. Peterson is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. She is a long time member of state and national PA organizations and is a founding member of the Association of Psychiatric Physician Assistants.

She was appointed as Clinical Assistant Professor of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center on November 6th, 2006, and joined the Department of Psychiatry on December 1, 2008.