My journey to psychiatry was a circuitous one. I found that as an undergraduate student in New York City, I was drawn to the arts and the time it allotted for academic inquiry outside of a lecture hall. Though I had always been attracted to a career in medicine, I could not definitively identify a particular specialty of interest and thus, could not commit at the time.
After graduating with a bachelor of arts in art history, I spent time volunteering as a tutor for high school students from underrepresented backgrounds, who were preparing for SATs. I derived a great deal of satisfaction from this work, and identified with some of these students who struggled, academically. Motivated by the experience, I decided to apply to medical school to pursue training in child and adolescent psychiatry.
No other specialty gratified me the way psychiatry did in medical school; but it wasn’t until residency that I found my true calling. While on call in a busy psychiatric emergency room, I treated a pregnant patient who was amid a severe depressive episode. Through this early encounter in my medical career, I acknowledged the nuances of an underserved demographic and have since built my career trajectory to center woman’s mental health and reproductive psychiatry.
Though this is a particular area of interest for me, I treat adult patients across the lifespan with a variety of mental health conditions, including but not limited to mood and anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), psychosis, sleep disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I also value the work I do with underrepresented individuals who seek mental healthcare.
I have a specific interest in psychodynamic therapy and completed additional training in this field. I was once told by a supervisor during my training, that to have access to a person’s psyche is a privilege. I internalized this sentiment and continued to approach each patient with both curiosity and humility. I offer my expertise to meet a person’s unique needs and optimize their care and wellbeing, whether through medication use, psychotherapy or a combination of the two.
