Sarah Y. Vinson, M.D.

As the founder of the Atlanta-based practice Lorio Psych Group, Dr. Sarah Y. Vinson works as a triple board-certified child and adolescent, adult and forensic psychiatrist. She also works with the Department of Juvenile Justice as a regional youth detention center psychiatrist, caring for incarcerated youth.Dr. Sarah Vinson Shot by www.reduceddesign.com

She entered UF COM through, what was then known as JHMP (now Medical Honors Program, MHP); graduating in 2007. While at UF she received a Distinguished Service Award and graduated with Honors in Research. She also served as the president of the SNMA, leading the organization to recognition as the UF COM student organization of the year, and then served as the president of the Medical College Council. During her first year of medical school, she co-wrote a book chapter on Psychosurgery, a collaboration with Dr. Michael Okun, a UF COM professor she first met in one of her JH seminars.

Dr. Vinson is the recipient of the American Psychiatric Association Diversity Fellowship, was appointed to the APA National Council on Advocacy and Government Relations and was named a 2018 Outstanding Young Alumnus and honored during an April 14 ceremony held in Gainesville. See the article Full of Beauty and Strength.

Her interests include outreach efforts to de-stigmatize mental illness in minority communities and educate through innovative programming. As a resident, she has started this work through collaborations with the local black newspapers and with chapters of the National Alliance for Mental Illness in Georgia and Massachusetts. She recently took her outreach efforts online with http://www.ouselvesblack.com, a website with articles, videos and links and contributors from a variety of backgrounds.

The JHMP eased the transition from undergraduate to medical school and provided the opportunity to learn from and interact with outstanding UF COM faculty in a small group setting. It also gave Dr. Vinson early exposure to the UF COM Office of Minority Affairs, the support of which was instrumental in her success as a medical student and beyond. Two of her closest friends, Dr. Lucinda Adorka and Dr. Jonathan Kombrinck, were her classmates in the 2007 JHMP.

JHMP Class of 2007
JHMP Class of 2007. Dr. Vinson is on the bottom row, second to the left.

The images on this page were taken prior to national guidelines of face coverings and social distancing.