James C. Ashworth, MD, Associate Professor (Clinical), is a graduate of the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, Utah. He completed a four-year adult psychiatry residency at the USAF Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas after being awarded an Air Force scholarship. He completed a two-year fellowship in Child and Adolescent psychiatry at the University of Utah, and then served as an active duty Psychiatrist and Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. During his time in the Air Force he was awarded an Air Force Commendation Medal. During his years of service in the Air Force, Dr. Ashworth served as the medical director of an adult substance abuse day treatment program.
After separating from the military, Dr. Ashworth returned to Salt Lake City and began working as the Medical Director of Youth Services at the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute. He is board certified in both general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry, and has maintained certification in both of these fields. His initial areas of clinical interest were those individuals with serious mental illness requiring inpatient services. Between 2005 and 2013, Dr. Ashworth’s main clinical endeavor was working with Intellectually Disabled patients in the University's Neurobehavior HOME Program. More recently, Dr. Ashworth has expanded his interests to innovative ways of supporting primary care providers in the delivery of mental health care to their patients. Dr. Ashworth is a co-founder of the GATE program which is a web-based consultation model to primary care providers. Active in the professional community, Dr. Ashworth was a gubernatorial appointee to State Board of Mental Health for two years, and then to the State Board of Substance Abuse and Mental Health for an additional six years. He also has presented on several occasions at the annual Critical Issues in Children's Mental Health conference and served in the past as medical director of this conference as well.
Over the years he has taught courses for both second and third year medical students as well as regular courses for general psychiatry, triple board, and traditionally trained child psychiatry residents. In 2009, he was awarded the annual resident teaching award.
In 2003, he became Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Under his leadership the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry faculty more than doubled in size. In July 2013, Dr. Ashworth stepped down as Division Chief when he became the Medical Director of the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute (UNI) [2013-2020] and Vice Chair of Clinical Services in the Department of Psychiatry.
Dr. Ashworth served as Interim Chair in the Department of Psychiatry from 2019 until the end of 2020. As 2021 begins, he's thrilled to be a part of the new leadership team promoting greater mental health access and innovation as the Huntsman Mental Health Institute's Medical Director and Psychiatry's Executive Vice Chair.