In Their Own Words
Maria Master, MD, JD
"I am working with Dr. Joseph Fins, Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College to develop expertise in neuro-ethics. I have the opportunity to examine issues in medical ethics, health care policy and delivery and to synthesize my experience in law and medicine. Currently, I am studying the impact of traumatic brain injury on family psychodynamics and developing a model for better therapeutic interventions for these families."
Conor Liston, MD, PhD
"I am investigating how stress affects plasticity on short timescales. With generous support from departmental and extramural sources, I am trying to understand how glucocorticoids regulate structural plasticity in the living cortex over periods of minutes to hours. I am collaborating with Professor Wenbiao Gan at NYU, using state-of-the-art imaging techniques developed to probe synaptic remodeling in vivo with micrometer precision in mice, and to track changes in dendritic spines. To understand whether similar changes occur in at-risk, psychiatric patients, I have initiated a parallel fMRI study at Cornell's Biomedical Imaging Center and in collaboration with Sackler Professor B.J. Casey."
Ray Raad, MD, MPH
"One of the unique features of the department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell is its Institute for the History of Psychiatry. Working with this institute during my residency has meant that, in addition to learning how to practice psychiatry, I also learn about the remarkable advances over centuries that brought our field to where it is today. In my first year, I wrote a paper on the early 1800s development of "moral treatment", from which we derive some of our current treatment techniques. I hope to gain a richer understanding of psychiatry and to use that knowledge to contribute to exciting issues in mental health policy."
Brendon Watson, MD, PhD
"I came to Cornell because it offered a combination of truly excellent clinical training, opportunity to seriously pursue my research interest and a supportive environment for families. I am a DeWitt Wallace Research Scholar and have been given protected research time to study the role of large and small brain circuits in emotional processing. I record electrical signals from cells and tissues in behaving rats and use these recordings to study both microcircuits and large scale interactions across parts of the brain during emotional engagement. In addition, for those with family, like myself, the housing here is truly exceptional. The parents association (PAANYC.org) provides a community of other parents and very affordably offers children'sŐ activities, general events and support of many kinds."
Shannon Gulliver, MD, MPhil
"I am devoting my elective time to studying health policy and economics with Dr. Philip Wilner, Vice Chair of our Department of Psychiatry, examining the health insurance pilot program in Massachusetts. Outside of the hospital, I chair the Young Associates program at the Chelsea Art Museum, volunteer for the Junior Committee of the National Arts Club and volunteer at the New York Center for Children, a treatment center for child abuse victims and their families. I also write art reviews and opinion pieces on healthcare issues for both academic and popular press publications."
Sukumar Rao, MD
"As we expand our evidence base in mental health to include traditional therapies as well as novel ones, we are faced with the task of understanding the theoretical basis of these traditions. During my PGY2 year, I spent five weeks in the Himalayas exploring some of the world's oldest techniques of mental healing. My journey led me through monasteries, remote tribal villages, meditation centers, and the Dalai Lama's hometown. The highlight of my experiences was learning Vipassana, an ancient form of meditation that is the basis for the modern practice of Mindfulness and its various applications in stress reduction, mood disorders, and severe personality disorders."
Alex Harris, MD, PhD
"Part of what makes Cornell such a compelling place to train is its embrace of diverse facets of psychiatry. The clinical training is superlative, with the opportunity to learn from leading figures in psychodynamic psychiatry. Simultaneously, the department has a strong commitment to researching the biological underpinnings of psychiatry. I have been given protected research time to pursue a project investigating the role of glutamate in mediating the plastic changes underlying neuro-stimulatory treatments (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation) of psychiatric disorders. The intellectual atmosphere here in all its dimensions is rigorous and invigorating."
Norman Lee, MD
"As a first year resident in Psychiatry, we spend about 18 weeks at NewYork-Presbyterian's Westchester campus in White Plains, New York. I started my year on the Adult Affective Disorders Unit there with Dr. Addonizio. It was a nice way to begin because the pace is manageable and the daily supervision is reassuring. We get CBT tutorials, lectures in neuropsychiatry, and training in ECT. But what I liked most was the morning commute to White Plains with the four other residents working at that campus. It allowed the interns to ask the PGY-2s questions about almost anything: psychopharm issues, strategies for being on-call, insight into difficult cases, and life in New York."
Jacqueline Kamrath, MD
"Psychiatry during the intern year is great in part because of the opportunity to rotate on the Second Chance Unit, one of only a handful of token-based economies in the country. During my second year, I'm looking forward to honing my interview skills with Dr. Otto Kernberg on the Personality Disorders Unit in Westchester. Overall, I really appreciate the rigor and scholarliness of our program. As I am considering going into private practice, I want my training and approach to be as structured and nuanced as possible. A final consideration for me was location. I remember thinking when I first came to NYC that there was such a depth and personality to the city, that opportunities and experiences were tucked into every nook and cranny. The city lends itself to my interests; violin, singing, food and learning Arabic, in addition to being forward thinking and psychiatry friendly while still appreciative of tradition."
Akshay Lohitsa, MD
"The ER rotation is an exciting place to start training because of the exhilarating pace and variety of learning opportunities. My interview skills matured considerably over the 5 weeks as I incorporated incisive questions and clever techniques from attendings. Above all, I was struck by the compassion, respect, and equanimity that my co-residents embodied."
Jennifer Sweet, MD
"The most incredible thing about Cornell, in my opinion, is the people. While Cornell is a large institution with tremendous resources, the Department of Psychiatry feels intimate enough that I have never felt like a small fish in a big pond. I feel comfortable approaching supervisors about concerns and asking for help pursing areas of interest. Now, as my class comes together after being divided between medicine and psychiatry rotations during internship, it has been wonderful to form collegiate relationships with my fellow PGY2 residents. There is also plenty of time to socialize outside of work. The people are what make Cornell such an exceptional place to train and overall, and I could not be more pleased with my experience as a resident at Payne Whitney."