The Future of Psychiatry

How does a psychiatrist tell a good psychiatric app from one that could harm a patient? Where to turn for guidance about MOC? Or for help with the tough ethical and clinical calls? How can psychiatrists keep abreast of the truly important clinical studies? Where does an early career psychiatrist become financially literate and learn about setting up his or her own practice? Where can a solo practitioner turn for expert “how I do it” guidance that’s concise and down to earth-not ivory tower?

These are just some of the editorial ideas our newly convened advisory board-made up of 7 early career psychiatrists-came up with recently . . . ideas this group will help us translate into published work in the coming months.

It’s my pleasure to introduce these extraordinarily accomplished young physicians, who were hand-picked by our editors in chief-Drs. Allan Tasman and Michelle Riba-from a pool of applicants. After reviewing their resumes, Allan and Michelle commented, “These young psychiatrists are amazing! It is wonderful to welcome them to our team with their innovative and interesting ideas.”

We asked each advisory board member to write a short “bio” to tell readers a little about themselves. I think you’ll enjoy the read.

Welcome, Drs. Awais Aftab, Noel Amaladoss, Kristel Carrington, Ralph de Similien, Jessica Gold, Desiree Shapiro, and John Torous!

Awais Aftab, MD

I am a PGY4 and Chief Resident for Education and Research at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU)/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. I am an APA Leadership Fellow, and a fellow member of the APA Council of Research and have received fellowship awards from AADPRT as well as the Association of Academic Psychiatry. I have authored more than 2 dozen peer-reviewed publications and am the principal investigator for a Practice Based Research Network study investigating how the experience of psychiatric hospitalization affects trust and relationships with outpatient psychiatric providers. I’m also involved in an RCT investigating pioglitazone as a treatment for bipolar depression.

I am keenly interested in the myriad ways in which psychiatry is subject to philosophical inquiry and have developed a 6-part didactic course on the intersection of philosophy and psychiatry, which I have taught to psychiatry residents. The course covers topics such as the nature of mental disorder with regards to the debate between naturalism and normativism, the antipsychiatry movement, pluralism in psychiatry, and philosophical issues in psychiatric nosology. I am the founder and chief curator of the resident-led newsletter Research Watch, which has been featured by APA’s Ohio district branch, and received the 2017 CWRU Scholarship in Teaching award.

In my spare time, I listen to indie pop/indie rock music on Spotify, enjoy fiction and non-fiction (most recently The Stormlight Archive fantasy series and a biography of Philip K. Dick), peruse the Sunday New York Times, and binge-watch on Netflix.

Noel Amaladoss, MD

Dr. Amaladoss is Assistant Professor at McMaster University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, and a Staff Psychiatrist at the Advanced Mind Clinic in Burlington, Ontario, whose main clinical interests are medical education, anxiety disorders, ADHD, psychopharmacology, and physician and corporate mental health. He earned his MB and ChB degrees from the University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg Medical School, in Cape Town, South Africa, completed a psychiatry residency at Queens University in Ontario, and his fellowship at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Kristel Carrington, MD

I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and am of Guyanese heritage. I’ve wanted to be a doctor since the age of 3, and I fell in love with psychiatry once I got to medical school. I received excellent training at NYU and got the full experience of the diversity psychiatry offers. Now that I have completed my training, my main career goal is to be able to experience the diversity of psychiatric practice as much as possible. I do part-time work as a locum in an outpatient clinic, I have a part-time private practice, and I also moonlight in a psychiatric emergency department.

When I’m not at work, I’m usually at home relaxing with my partner and our 2 cats. I love playing video games and find them very relaxing and therapeutic-especially the first-person shooters! I also enjoy traveling, seeing natural beauty, and taking very amateur nature pics. One of my big passions is financial literacy for MDs. Doctors are horrible at managing finances, so I am big on educating early career MDs about topics such as retirement planning, safe investing, and basic budgeting.

 Ralph de Similien, MD

I am currently a Fellow in the Public Psychiatry Fellowship at Yale University. I earned my medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine in 2013 and completed psychiatry residency at Howard University Hospital in 2017. I am an alumnus of Teach for America and AmeriCorps and a former elementary school teacher. My interests include public and community psychiatry, education administration, and addressing the social determinants of mental health and persistent mental illness in the transitional/college-age patient population.

Jessica Gold, MD, MS

I am a fourth-year Resident and Chief in Psychiatry at Stanford University. As an undergraduate, I majored in anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, where I was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2009. I also received a Master’s in Science in anthropology from Penn at the same time, using qualitative methods to study premedical education for my thesis work. I received my medical degree from the Yale School of Medicine and graduated in 2014. While at Stanford, my primary interests are medical education, physician wellness, and the media portrayal of psychiatry as it relates to stigma.

I enjoy both academic and popular press writing, frequently blogging for the Huffington Post and won the 2016 Psychiatric Times essay contest for my essay, “The Mirror.” In my spare time, I spend time with my dog, friends, playing bar trivia, and my growing extended family of 7 nieces and nephews.

Desiree Shapiro, MD

I am an Assistant Clinical Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University California, San Diego. I help patients and families in psychiatric crises on an in­patient unit, in the emergency department, and in a crisis stabilization unit at Rady Children’s Hospital. I love working on teams and with trainees to help youth and their families create a recovery plan.

I have been involved in organized medicine through the APA and AACAP and served as President of the APA Leadership Fellowship, which was an incredibly rewarding experience. I am passionate about child and adolescent psychiatry and feel fortunate to care for youth and their families. I have many interests but currently am focused on prevention and early intervention, systems of care, teaching, mentorship, and positive psychiatry.

In my spare time, I enjoy being with my 21-month-old and family. Being a mom is the hardest and greatest adventure I’ve ever had; playing with my little girl is my greatest joy! I am excited about being a part of the Editorial Advisory Board for Psychiatric Times.

John Torous, MD

I am a board-certified psychiatrist and researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School. I completed a computer sciences degree at UC Berkeley, medical school at UC San Diego, residency at BIDMC, and currently am completing a master’s degree in biomedical informatics at Harvard Medical School. My research focuses on smartphone-based passive data sensing (monitoring mobility, social, and cognitive data streams) for relapse prediction in patients with depression and schizophrenia. I’ve published over 40 peer-reviewed papers on digital technology in psychiatry. I chair the APA’s workgroup on smartphone app evaluation, advise on smartphone apps for the Precision Medicine Initiative, and co-direct the digital psychiatry program at BIDMC.