Snapshots
We asked one member of each class to write down all of their activities during a week of residency. We hope that this will give you a quick snapshot into what life is like for our residents!
PGY-1 Audrey Nguyen
Education
- MD: UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
- MPH: Harvard School of Public Health
- BS: UCLA
Bio
Audrey was born and raised in sunny Southern California. She received her BS in Human Biology and Society and minor in Public Health from UCLA. After college, Audrey spent her gap year designing a mobile app for mental health at Stanford, where her love for psychiatry first began. After returning to UCLA for medical school, she dedicated time to serving people experiencing homelessness and conducting research in consult-liaison psychiatry. On her psychiatry clerkships, she was drawn to the humanism in each patient’s story and the fulfilling work of helping patients find individualized treatments. Wanting to better understand and reform the mental healthcare system, she then completed her MPH in Health Management at Harvard, where she led digital health interventions for underserved communities abroad. After briefly experiencing the east coast winter, she promptly returned to California and is excited to be pursuing residency at UCLA! Her interests include CL and child psychiatry, immigrant mental health, and health tech/innovation. In her free time, Audrey can be found dancing on the aerial hoop, cheering on her favorite Formula 1 drivers, and exploring L.A.’s coffee shops.
Follow Me for a Week
Monday
- 7:00 PM: I’m starting my second week of Night Float, so my “day” actually begins in the evening! After waking up from a daytime nap (yes, I did get a full 8 hours of rest), I do my typical morning routine: a 15-minute yoga session, followed by light breakfast, then head over to UCLA Medical Center. For intern year, we do 2-week blocks of night float, where we’re on call taking new psych consults from the ED and managing current floor patients. Believe it or not, there’s a spring in my step as I enter the hospital and head for the cafeteria. Our cafeteria funds (thanks, resident union!) let me get pretty much anything I want: So, I grab a steaming cup of Starbucks coffee, a delicious salad, and some healthy snacks, then join the rest of the call team.
- 12:00 AM: I’m mid-way through seeing a new consult from the ED: a patient with psychosis. After evaluating them, I can’t help but feel a little suspicious for delirium. I page the on-call attending directly (yep, they’re not scary despite the late hour) and staff the patient. She agrees with my assessment, and I complete the usual notes and orders.
- 5:00 AM: It’s my turn to cover the pager until the day team comes, and I’m feeling ready for it. A wise PGY-2 senior has been physically present with me the entire night (including during this intern “solo” shift, so I’m never alone), and he checks in with me often in case I have questions. Fortunately, it’s quiet on the floor, and I was paged just once by nursing to adjust PRN meds.
- 8:00 AM: Woo, made it through the night! After swinging by the hospital’s Scrubjay Café to grab a matcha latte and freshly baked cinnamon roll (again using my cafeteria $$), I head home. I munch on said cinnamon roll over a conversation with my partner (who’s getting ready to go to work), then watch an episode of Severance on Apple TV. Now, off to bed!
Tuesday
- 6:00 PM: I wake up to a group text from the evening call team. It’s the moonlighter (usually a PGY-2 or above) asking the interns on call what we want for dinner—our choice, their treat! We decide on Tender Greens (though Cava is a close second) and submit our orders on UberEats. It’s a fun tradition that actually happens daily, and it makes being on call more exciting.
- 7:00 PM: I arrive at UCLA, and after making my usual stop at the cafeteria to grab snacks and coffee, I join the evening call team. There’s good energy in the call room as I greet the senior PGY-3; the moonlighter; my fellow R1 on short call; and the MS4. Everyone’s enjoying their delicious meals from Tender Greens and chatting about their day, and I quickly join in on the camaraderie. I’m bonding deeply with the PGY-3 on skincare products when a page comes from the ED: time to see a new patient!
- 2:00 AM: It was less busy tonight, with me and the PGY-2 each seeing 1 patient, and I finish my work in time for my protected time window as an intern. From 2-5am, the PGY-2 covers the pager, so I’m free to sleep, relax, go for a walk, etc. Since I have downtime, I head to the house staff call rooms to freshen up (it’s like a fancy hotel down there, I’m serious). Then, I listen to my audiobook while decorating our PGY-1 overnight call room with fairy lights to create ~ambiance~. Might as well make it cozy.
- 8:00 AM: Before leaving the hospital, I have a quick meeting with my faculty mentor. Our fantastic APD, Dr. Sarah Nguyen, leads a mentorship program where every resident can elect to have a 1:1 faculty mentor for the year. My mentor is super kind and approachable – we discuss his extensive work in neuromodulation and connect over a mutual interest in public health!
Wednesday
- 7:00 PM: I wake up and do my usual “morning” routine. Midway through downward dog, I get a text from the R3 that it’s quieter tonight, and I can come in a little later to the hospital. Cool! With some extra time buffer, my partner and I have dinner together and go for a walk around the neighborhood. Then, he drops me off at the hospital, and I’m refreshed and ready for call.
- 1:00 AM: Tonight has been a mix of interesting cases, from elderly adults to young children, and symptoms ranging from suicidal ideation to mania and psychosis. One of the cool things about Night Float is you learn quickly how to manage a wide spectrum of conditions and scenarios. After staffing with the attending (who still kindly took time to teach me clinical pearls, despite being woken up at 1am), we decide to admit them for inpatient psychiatric treatment.
- 6:00 AM: I get a page that one of the floor patients required an emergent IM med for agitation and was placed in restraints. After evaluating them, I still have some questions about putting in orders. Fortunately, the amazing PGY-2 on call with me is easily reachable (in fact, he’s still chilling in the workroom with me!), and all my questions are answered.
- 8:00AM: The consult-liaison (CL) team enters the workroom to start their day, and I sign out pertinent patient issues to them. They’re an awesome team of PGY-2s, and it’s a blessing to see their faces after a long night! After saying our goodbyes, I’m pretty tired and decide to call an Uber to take me home. We have a fatigue mitigation program for residents (thanks again to our union/resident benefits!), and Ubers are covered to and from the hospital.
Thursday
- 7:00 PM: It’s my last evening of Night Float. By this point in the week, I’ve accumulated way too much food from the cafeteria (gummies, nuts, fruit, yogurt, iced tea…. you name it), and my bag is getting heavy. As I stroll into the workroom, I’m immediately greeted with a thoughtful “Thank You” card from the daytime CL team of PGY-2s. My heart swells! One thing I’ve appreciated so much about this program is how genuinely kind my co-residents are across all classes. As nerve-wracking as intern year can be, I’ve always felt so well-supported.
- 5:00 AM: I’m seeing my fourth consult: a patient with suicidal thoughts. His family is at bedside, and I’m able to build positive rapport with the patient and his loved ones. After a lengthy family discussion, we decide to discharge with resources. As I’m about to work on the note, my stomach growls. Subway is open 24/7 at the hospital and also covered by our resident benefits, so I grab a sandwich before finishing up my work for the evening (or rather… morning?).
- 8:00 AM: I feel bittersweet leaving the hospital after finishing two fulfilling weeks of night float – It helped me build autonomy and clinical skills so much faster. Before heading home, I stop by Scrubjay Café again to grab my usual matcha latte and pastry. There, I run into a co-intern currently on inpatient psych. We catch up for a few minutes and make plans to grab a meal with the rest of our class next week (we like to do post-didactics shenanigans). Then, I Uber home and spend the morning finishing the rest of Severance before snoozing.
Friday
- 7:00 PM: Since Night Float is typically Sunday-Thursday, today is post-call and I’m free for the rest of the evening. After a relaxing dinner out with my partner, I meet up with a group of friends for our weekly viewing of The Bachelorette. As much as we pretend to hate it, we all secretly hope for ~drama~ at the rose ceremony.
Saturday and Sunday
- Now that I’m back on a daytime schedule, I return to my usual weekend routine. In the mornings, my partner and I grab coffee from our favorite coffee shops in Santa Monica, followed by a stroll on the boardwalk along the coast. It’s sunny without a single cloud in the sky—one of the things I love about LA.
- Later in the day, I attend my aerial hoop class to learn a new routine and catch up with my friends in the aerial dance community. In the evening, I call my family, then meet up with friends for dinner—there’s an endless selection of great food options across LA, and we decide on a meal in Koreatown.
- After getting back, I dig out my stethoscope (which may or may not be collecting dust) in preparation for Monday, when I switch to outpatient ambulatory medicine at the VA. And already, it’s bedtime!
Thanks for joining me this week! 😊
PGY-1 Praveen Rajaguru
Bio
Praveen was born and raised just outside of DC in Prince George’s County. He went to the University of Pennsylvania for college, where his adventures included joining a world-touring music group, eating lots of cheesesteaks, and studying public health & neuroscience. After college, he interned in local government, studied access to surgical care in Tanzania, earned an MPH, and ran his first marathon. He moved further north for medical school at Brown and grew attached to the beaches and small-town vibes. Initially set on ophthalmology, on his M3 CAP rotation he fell in love with the mix of human connection, social determinants of health, and neuroscience that’s unique to psychiatry. After M3 he took a year to work at a company that develops psychotherapy notebooks and to also study racial disparities in the use of restraints. His current interests in psychiatry include CAP, forensics, neuromodulation & psychedelic-assisted therapy, palliative/CL, and striving for global/local equity. Praveen is thrilled and grateful to be the first physician in his family and to have couples matched with his partner at UCLA. He hopes to explore the amazing nature and food scene in LA, catch a few early AM Liverpool matches, and enjoy some lazy pet-filled weekends.
Follow Me for a Week
PGY-2 Alexis Smith (she/her)
Education
- MD: Harvard Medical School
- Undergrad: Vanderbilt University
Bio
Alexis grew up in Dexter, a small town in Southeast Missouri. Given Dexter wasn’t exactly known for its thriving entertainment and culinary scene (more like tractors and corn fields!), she spent most of her time playing team sports (volleyball, basketball, track, and cross-country) and enjoying Southern comfort food at her grandmother’s house. Alexis attended undergrad at Vanderbilt University in Nashville before she continued her journey east to attend medical school at Harvard. While in medical school, she found her passion for psychiatry and its intersection with lifestyle medicine (and Red Sox baseball, to her family’s dismay!). Alexis is interested in healthcare systems and how to deliver high-quality psychiatric care that is equitable, accessible, and compassionate. She is currently working with the UCLA NPH ROAR Initiative which aims to monitor, analyze, reduce, and ideally eliminate restraint use in psychiatric settings. Her other interests include medical education, psychosis, mental health law/policy, child and adolescent psychiatry and LGBTQ+ mental health. Alexis lives with her partner, Mckenna, a songwriter, and their two dogs, Mylo and Oakley. In her free time, you’ll likely find her hiking with her pups, doing CrossFit, enjoying a day at the beach (beach volleyball anyone?!), exploring the LA music scene, or working towards creating the perfect cup of coffee.
Follow Me for a Week
Monday
Morning: I get my day started with an early morning CrossFit class with my partner and friends, head home for a quick shower and coffee, then I’m on my way to the hospital! I am currently on my first month of child and adolescent psychiatry (we complete two 1-month rotations as PGY2s)! I arrive at the hospital around 7:45 am. After catching up with the other residents, medical students, and psychology interns on the team, I chart review to see how my patients did over the weekend, then spend the majority of the morning seeing patients and conducting 1:1 therapy sessions (one unique thing about our child rotation is that we get a lot of therapy supervision, and you can really take advantage of it!). Multidisciplinary rounds start at 10:30 AM, and we discuss our cases as a team with nurses, dieticians, psychologists, social workers, education specialists, and more!
Lunch: Today, I’m going to our weekly resident council meeting where we come together to discuss program updates, offer suggestions on how to improve the program and enjoy each other’s company over a department provided lunch!
Afternoon: This afternoon, I grabbed coffee with the team from Blue Jay Cafe (on campus and takes our dining $!) before we headed to psychotherapy teaching in the afternoon. This session is led by the attending psychologist on the team, who interviews a patient and afterward leads a discussion on the case formulation and various therapy techniques! The rest of the afternoon is filled with calling families, co-facilitating family meetings, meeting with patients, writing orders, calling outpatient providers, reviewing labs, etc!
Evening: I head home around 5 PM to unwind, relax, snuggle the pups, make dinner with my partner and watch Love is Blind UK Edition!
Tuesday
- Morning: I get up early for another CrossFit workout! It’s especially important in residency to set aside intentional time *most days* to do something that connects you with yourself and with people you care about– I opt for community centered workouts to do both at the same time! I get to the hospital at 7:30 am and head to the Ronald Reagan cafeteria (the best!) to grab freshly scrambled eggs, bacon and oatmeal (they also have fantastic omelets!). We get $25 to spend per day, which is enough for at least 2 meals if not 3, and it makes a huge difference knowing you always have food available! Then it’s time to head upstairs to chart review, see patients and head to rounds.
- Lunch: Today, I’m headed to a lunch talk hosted by our Community and Global Psychiatry (CGP) Chiefs. We are discussing updates to our work flow to connect patients experiencing housing insecurity to resources! Read more about CGP here!
- Afternoon: Time to catch up on tasks for the day, spend time outside on the deck with patients, and do some teaching with our wonderful medical students!
- Evening: Commuting in LA can definitely take some getting used to, but I’ve found it’s a great time to catch up with loved ones and dive into podcasts I’m interested in! Tonight, I’m making steak tacos and relaxing with my partner!
Wednesday
- Morning: Wednesday’s are for treatment planning rounds, which is a more formal version of multidisciplinary rounds where we set weekly goals for patients and discuss their progress towards discharge!
- Lunch: Today I’m headed to a lunch talk to learn more about the 1-year college mental health fellowship offered by UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)!
- Afternoon: On Wednesdays, we have the afternoon protected for didactics! It’s great to spend time with co-residents while learning from some of the best psychiatrists, pharmacists, psychologists and scientists in the field! Today’s lectures include: advanced diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders led by one of our fantastic outpatient attendings Dr. Gitlin, a Depakote lecture led by our beloved pharmacist Pargol and then a final lecture on the psychosocial treatment for patients with schizophrenia led by our fantastic research track director Dr. Yang. We often will spend time as a class afterward and rotate hosting the class for happy hours!
- Evening: Tonight I am moonlighting in the Ronald Reagan ED where I will see psychiatry consults from 4PM to 12 PM! This is a great opportunity to earn extra money, see more cases and hangout with co-residents.
Thursday
- Morning: I set aside Thursday early mornings to enjoy coffee on the couch, catch up on some email, and spend time at the dog park with the pups! I get to the hospital around 7:45 AM, grab breakfast from the cafeteria and settle in to start the day!
- Lunch: Today, I’m getting lunch with my team on the lawn outside the hospital (which can be done year round because it’s almost always nice weather!). When it comes to lunch, you’re never short on options– there is so much to choose from in the cafeteria to suit any dietary preference, including a daily rotating line where you’ll find everything from fresh shrimp tacos to Indian curries to seafood bowls!
- Afternoon: Time to catch up on tasks and stop by the consult-liaison room to catch up with co-residents!
Friday
- Morning: It’s Friday! I am looking forward to time off this weekend to spend with friends visiting from Nashville. 🙂 I get to the hospital a little early to get a head start on tasks heading into the weekend!
- Lunch: Today I’m headed to a lunch talk to learn more about our global psychiatry elective in Tinstwalo, South Africa! This clinical elective is available each year for PGY-3 and PGY-4 residents and is really popular amongst residents!
- Afternoon: Time to make sure all my patients are ready for the weekend and sign out is updated for our stellar call team! I head home early to get the weekend started (we can often cover the pager for each other in the afternoons on a rotating basis to get some extra afternoon sun and time with loved ones!)
Saturday and Sunday
- Weekends in LA are my favorite, and luckily we have plenty of protected weekends to enjoy! Catch me going on an early morning hike with the pups, hitting up my favorite local coffee shop (Cognoscenti or Boy & The Bear), spending the day at the beach with friends, going to an outdoor movie (check out Cinespia!), biking or checking out a local concert!
PGY-2 Meghan Reddy
Education
- BA, Molecular and Cell Biology: UC Berkeley
- MD, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
Bio
Meghan is a lifelong Californian who was born and raised in the SF Bay Area. She went to UC Berkeley (obligatory go bears) to study Molecular and Cell Biology with a concentration in Immunology after taking and loving a class in high school pretentiously called Pestilence and Civilization. In her first two years of college, she considered many possible paths including bench research (one semester was more than enough) and high school health education (she still loves this one) before settling on caring for older adults after hearing some fantastic stories as a volunteer at a dementia care center. Not ready to commit to applying to medical school, she decided to put her degree to use as a clinical researcher in cancer immunotherapies at Stanford while continuing to volunteer at The Berkeley Free Clinic as an HIV Test Counselor. She finally left the Bay Area to start medical school at UCLA which is her best and only move to date. Initially with plans to pursue medicine and then geriatrics, Meghan fell in love with psychiatry on her third year clerkship on the gold team right here at Resnick! Therefore it is no surprise that she is absolutely thrilled to continue at UCLA for her residency training. She’s now geriatric psychiatry’s biggest fan and loves to talk about happy, healthy aging, particularly how we can create community and connection for isolated older adults. When she’s not in the hospital, Meghan spends her time reading (mysteries and memoirs), watching horror movies and adult cartoons, de-stressing with the NYT sudoku, and just generally enjoying Los Angeles and its fantastic lack of discernible seasons or weather.
Follow Me for a Week
Monday
Morning: I wake up at 5:45 AM feeling ready to take on the week after a wonderful golden week full of friends and food. I check my work phone to see how many patients we had come in overnight. I’m on the consult service right now, and for the first few days this week I am in charge of all the psych ED patients added to our list overnight (having been seen by our hardworking call and night float residents). Mondays are the busiest days, and I wake up to 8 new patients in the ED. I prechart on the patients in the ED and send the rest of the team an email summarizing the patient assignments for the day. One quick morning routine later, I get to UCLA around 7:30 AM. I have a little chat/brief philosophical debate with our night float residents before heading off to see all my patients. Dr. Brooks, one of the main CL attendings, is covering both the ED and CL patients, and we start rounding at 9:45 AM with our medical students and social workers. After rounds end at 11:30, I attend bed huddle, where I discuss the patients currently waiting for beds at Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital with nursing.
Afternoon: I go to the Residents’ Council meeting, snag some free lunch and catch up on all the new residency goings-on. I have always been a big fan of student government and love being involved in residency. I spend the rest of the day working on disposition plans for our ED patients and seeing new consults.
Evening: I leave work at 5:30 and head home to change into workout clothes. A few of my friends from medical school have memberships at the same gym, and we like to meet up after work for fitness classes and workouts. On the docket today is cardio and abs. (I was sore for the rest of the week.)
Tuesday
Morning: Similar to Monday, I wake up at 5:45 but this time to 5 new patients. The rest of my morning is almost exactly the same as on Monday.
Afternoon: I grab lunch outside with one of my pathology resident friends. I also make some time to attend my research group meeting. Other than that, I once again spend the rest the day working on disposition plans for our ED patients and seeing new consults. In the lulls between consults, I have time to chill with the other two PGY-2s on the service. This rotation has been a great opportunity to get to know my co-residents after spending so much of intern year apart on off-service rotations.
Evening: I head home after grabbing a slice of pizza from the Fresh Brothers that just opened in the RR cafeteria. I spend a couple of hours on the phone catching up with a friend from college who just got engaged(!).
Wednesday
Morning: Another similar morning, but this time I wake up to 3 new patients. I allow myself to snooze for an extra 20 minutes. The rest of the morning is very similar to the ones that came before it.
Afternoon: I attend a lunch talk led by Melvin, another PGY-2. He is discussing a cutting-edge research article in the field of addiction psychiatry. Wednesday afternoons are our didactic days, and we are very lucky to have senior residents cover the service while we learn. After signing out, I meet up with a few of my co-residents before we walk over to Semel for didactics starting at 2 PM. We have a stacked set of lectures, starting with Dr. Gitlin, who is a mood disorders expert. He’s been doing a multi-week series for us on mood disorders and their treatments. Our next lecturer is Dr. Nazarian, our all-star psychiatric pharmacist, who gives us the nitty gritty on psychopharmacology. Finally, we end with Dr. Marder, another legend, whose area of expertise is psychosis.
Evening: I meet up with my faculty mentor, Dr. Oughli. We grab (decaf) coffee and pastries at Pret and chat about my experiences as a PGY-2. From there, I drive to Brentwood for a neighborhood walk with a few friends. We stopped to get some gelato, and despite how tempted I was to eat more dessert, I resisted the urge given all the pastries I had just eaten. Never fear, I will be back for their pistachio gelato in the near future!
Thursday:
Morning: I get to wake up later around 6:45. I have transferred ED resident duties to Kaleab, my co-resident, which means I only need to prechart on the admitted patients I am following. I also roll into work a little later around 7:45. I see my patients. Rounds today are especially interesting as Dr. Brooks teaches us about psychiatric culture-bound syndromes including Amok, Latah, Pibloktoq (Arctic hysteria), and Koro.
Afternoon: I see a couple of new consults throughout the afternoon. Today was special because all three of the PGY-2s and our Sub-I on ED/CL were able to make it to lunch outside together. This is a rare occurrence and one to be celebrated.
Evening: I head to a meeting where I get to see some of our residency leadership talk about future plans for our program. There is once again free food (an important draw for all afterwork meetings).
Friday:
Morning: I wake up at 6:45, and after reviewing the signout email, have two new patients to see this morning. I pack my backpack with a few overnight essentials since I am working a 24-hour shift today. I head to work by 7:30 to get started so that I can staff the new patients with Dr. Brooks when we round.
Afternoon: I have two more consults to see but they are well spaced out.
Evening: I am on call overnight so I stay at work. My co-resident, Daniella, is moonlighting and treats us to dinner (thanks, Daniella!). Together with the moonlighter, I work with the R1s (on short and long call) and R3 to see new patients in the ED and direct admissions. Tonight, I started with a direct admission from an outside hospital.
Saturday:
Morning: I am still finishing up my overnight call. My last consult comes in at 1 AM. After I evaluate and finish my notes, I am able to get a few hours of sleep before waking up to grab a delicious RR cafeteria breakfast (I’m talking French toast, bacon, eggs, potatoes, the works). I say hello the weekend call team, and pick up the food I had stashed in the workroom fridge the previous day.
Afternoon: Zzzzz. (Catching up on the sleep I missed out on last night.)
Evening: I go to a birthday party on the beach for one of the psych resident friends I met while rotating at Harbor as an intern. It was a great time and so fun to see old friends and make new ones. The sunsets in the South Bay are extra beautiful.
Sunday:
Morning: I get to sleep in, and it is glorious. I head to the gym for some cardio and treat myself to a little trip to the used bookstore where I was able to snag a few vintage copies of books by my favorite author, Agatha Christie (I have a bit of a collection).
Afternoon: I meet a few of my friends for lunch at Tigawok in Sawtelle. It’s both delicious and the most affordable new restaurant in the area. One of my friends is a Yelp Elite member and snags us some freebies at Beard Papas for dessert. It pays to have friends in high places.
Evening: I work on some research project to dos and call my parents for our weekly family catch up.
PGY-3 Afaf Moustafa
Education
- BA, Biological Basis of Behavior, University of Pennsylvania
- MD, New York Medical College
Bio
My parents moved to the US from Egypt shortly before I was born, with my mom originally from Palestine and my father from Egypt. I was born in Buffalo, NY but grew up predominantly in Newport Beach, California as the middle child of two sisters. Eager to move away from the conservative bubble of Newport Beach, I moved to Philadelphia and studied Biological Basis of Behavior at UPenn. I spent two years after college completing clinical research in nicotine addiction at UPenn, before starting school at New York Medical College, where I lived in Westchester, NY for the first two years and in East Harlem for the last two, completing my clinical rotations at a safety-net hospital in Harlem.
I knew I wanted to specialize in psychiatry since college, but I had no idea I would end up back on the West Coast. After interviewing at a half-dozen NYC programs, I was blown away by UCLA on the interview day, and even more so on the JEDI Recruitment Day. Serendipitously, I ended up moving back only an hour from where I grew up.
Since college, I’ve been mostly interested in how to apply a social justice lens to whatever work I do, and Iwas driven to psychiatry because of my interests in social determinants of mental health. Now, my interests have also broadened to include psychotherapy, mood disorders and personality disorders, and forensic psychiatry, with a particular interest in how systemic trauma, oppression of marginalized communities, and capitalism/imperialism/white supremacy all impact our field.
In addition to regular residency duties, I serve as one of the program’s JEDI Chief Residents; I occasionally volunteer as a street medic or de-escalation support at protests and rallies throughout LA. I also am one of UCLA’s 15 union delegates, serving our union, the Committee of Interns & Residents, on the local and national level. In my free time, I love to travel, either visiting friends in various cities or exploring new cities with my partner. Within LA, I love going to concerts/festivals, attending protests and community organizing events, trying new restaurants, hiking, or just curling up on our couch with my partner and our cats.
Follow Me for a Week
Sunday
One of the perks of moving back to LA for residency is living close (but not too close) to my parents in Newport Beach. I drove down for the weekend to meet my parents and little sister for my mother’s birthday. After a quick brunch with them Sunday, I drove back to LA to meet up with my partner (who is one of my co-residents!). We got lunch in Little Armenia out in Glendale, and then accompanied a co-resident to go shopping for her wedding dress!
After dress shopping, we got massages to de-stress before the coming week, and went home and just binge watched Love Island USA.
Monday
Morning:
I’m not a morning person, so minimizing morning clinical duties was a priority in creating my third-year schedule (in addition to having Fridays off!). I made my coffee, played with my cats, and finished pre-charting on my clinical patients for the week (I had started this process on Friday so it didn’t take me long).
At 10am, I have a meeting with some of my favorite people (Brian Chu, Dr. Eraka Bath, and Dr. Enrico Castillo) for my role as JEDI Co-Chief. At 11am, I have an hour-long training session (again with Brian!) for our DBT clinic with the Westside DBT clinic. During this meeting, one of the therapists from the clinic goes through a training PowerPoint to help us learn how to incorporate DBT into our practice.
Afternoon:
Today, I had a last-minute cancellation, so I don’t have a patient until 2pm (usually the geriatric psychiatry clinic starts at 1:15pm) so I chill at home with the cats and catch up on emails before driving over to the hospital and getting some lunch. I see three geriatric psychiatry patients, and then head over to the C/L Workroom for my call shift! As a third year, there’s usually downtime during call. In between responding to pages, I use this time to finish my notes from clinic, eat my dinner (courtesy of the night’s moonlighter, Jessica Sheu, who bought us all Tender Greens), and catch up with some co-residents on call. At 10pm, I use a Fatigue Uber (courtesy of our union contract, which allows us to Uber for free to/from the hospital when we’re fatigued) and go right to bed.
Tuesday
Morning:
At 6:30am, I roll out of bed, make myself a coffee, and get a Fatigue Uber back to UCLA. I’m in supervision for the Mood Disorders Clinic for an hour, during which I get to ask clinic director Dr. Michael Gitlin any psychopharmacology- or patient-related questions I’ve been pondering for the last week. At 8am, I head over to our didactics, which means another hour of Dr. Gitlin teaching us about treatment-resistant bipolar disorder, an hour of learning psychodynamic psychotherapy from Dr. Phil Blumenshine and Dr. Silpa Somepalli (today’s lecture was on implementing anti-racism in psychotherapy), and an hour on antipsychotics by Dr. Steve Marder.
Afternoon:
After didactics, we usually have Grand Rounds, but it’s canceled today! Instead, I have supervision with Dr. Vernon Rosario, a community psychiatrist and medical historian who specializes in psychodynamic psychotherapy and working with transgender/intersex youth. I grab lunch from Cafe Med during my break and watch TikToks in my office.
Next, I have Mood Disorders Clinic. This is my toughest clinic: a mix of patients with treatment-resistant depression, severe borderline personality disorder, bipolar 1 disorder with psychosis, and more. At the end of the clinic, we get another hour of didactics for the clinic, which means more time with Dr. Gitlin!
After didactics, I skedaddle home and eat dinner, and then I have the other portion of my DBT Clinic: DBT Skills group. I get to observe and (eventually) help facilitate a group therapy session during which we review DBT themes and learn the skills. Honestly, this part of the clinic is helpful so that I can teach DBT skills to patients and also so that I can use them myself (I strongly believe everyone could benefit from DBT). After this, I sneak in an episode of Love Island with my partner and go to bed.
Wednesday
Morning:
To balance out my busy day yesterday, today is relatively calm and I get the morning off! I wake up and realize I do not have a dress to wear for an upcoming wedding this weekend, so I make a quick morning trip to Century City mall and manage to find a dress within an hour. After that, I have a couple errands to run, and have an impromptu call with my older sister on the East Coast. I have to end the call in order to return a page from a patient’s dad. He’s worried because the patient hasn’t been taking his medications and seems to be manic. We discuss safety planning, what resources are available, and I make a note to reach out to my patient later in the day. Before lunch, I have RPEP: the reflective psychotherapy education program. It is essentially hourly, weekly, free therapy with an incredible psychodynamic psychiatrist. And it counts towards my clinical time! Then, I grab lunch from Scrub Jay Cafe (where we can also use our meal stipend!) and head to my office.
Afternoon:
I have 2 RPC patients today: the first one is in-person, the second is over Zoom. I drive over to my office to start. I’m still getting used to doing psychotherapy, so I’m a little nervous but I absolutely love working with my patients. My interests include working with patients of color, queer patients, patients with significant trauma, and patients with borderline personality disorder, so luckily I got to pick 2 patients that fit these interests. After my second patient, I grab dinner to-go from the hospital and drive home. At home, I hop onto my group supervision with my other therapy supervisor, Dr. Paul Puri. He’s a master-of-all-trades kinda guy and teaches us about dozens of therapy modalities (fun fact, he’s also a psychiatrist consultant for medical TV shows!). During group supervision, I get to hang with my coresidents, Erin Hegarty and Jessica Bodden. We get to learn from each other and get great indirect supervision, a win-win.
The best part of today though? My partner scored floor seats last minute (bought 1 hour before the show) to see Olivia Rodrigo for a complete steal. I frantically get ready and we drive over to the new Intuit Dome. We are blown away and I somehow only cry twice. I fall asleep happy and exhausted.
Thursday
Morning:
I am definitely tired today, but it was worth it. I drive 5 minutes to the VA, where I catch up with my co-residents Ragda Izar and David Adams before we start the HPACT clinic, a VA clinic for unhoused veterans. I have a no-show, during which time we all catch up and lament some of the stressors that come with this transition to the outpatient world. I get a very cute message from a patient I saw last week, a man in his 60’s who opened up to me about his trauma from being forced into the closet throughout his time serving, and the trauma of being diagnosed with HIV in the 1990’s. The message includes a comment about how comfortable he is knowing he has a queer psychiatrist. Working at a VA has his pros and cons, but this makes getting through the day much easier.
Afternoon:
Next clinic for the day is with the Office of Diversion & Re-Entry. It’s possibly the coolest clinic I’m in. The worst part means driving downtown through LA traffic to get there (a 30- to 45-minute drive). The best part is that I get to do it with my co-resident, J2 (aka Jennifer Tu). We’re in the clinic together so we carpool each week. This week, I pick her up from her house (after she cooks lunch with her husband). We catch up on the drive and head up to the courthouse. In this clinic, we see patients who we are working to divert out of the carceral system and into residential treatment. It’s a program that is unique to LA and has really piqued my interest in forensic psychiatry.
After this, J2 and I drive home. Since I had a clinic at the VA today, I get to use my UberEats funds to get a free meal, and I purchase a BOGO deal so that my partner and I get free dinner (another shoutout to our union!). After dinner, I have a meeting with my fellow union delegates, during which we discuss updates and ways to make sure our next contract is our strongest one yet. I wrap up my meeting with just enough time for another episode of Love Island with my partner – I promise, we have hobbies outside of reality TV.
Friday
Today I finally get to sleep in again since I have no clinic today! I finish up my notes from the week, respond to patient messages, and pack for a flight later this afternoon. On my way to the airport with my partner, I realize I totally forgot to get pager coverage while I’m on my flight. I frantically text Ragda and she instantly responds telling me I can sign out my pager a few hours early to her. I thank her profusely and run (literally) to my flight.
We land in Denver in time for the rehearsal dinner! I’m grateful to have no clinics Friday (and for my partner who only has morning clinic Friday) which allowed us to make it to Denver by 5pm without having to use any vacation time.
Saturday
We spend the day in Denver, eating food, seeing sites, and of course going to my partner’s friend’s wedding. It’s a beautiful day, and we end the night at the afterparty at some gay bars in the city!
PGY-3 Ragda Izar
Education
- BA, Neuroscience, University of Illinois at Chicago
- MD, Wayne State University School of Medicine
Bio
I was born and raised in the Southwest Chicago suburbs. My parents immigrated to the United States from Egypt in the early 90s and settled in one of the largest Arab and Muslim populations in the United States. I grew up going to both public and Islamic school, and I spent most of my summers in Egypt with my extended family. In college, I majored in Neuroscience. At the time, I knew I wanted to pursue medicine, but I was convinced I was going to be an internist.
After college, I took a year off to apply to medical school, and I worked in a cancer drug research lab. At the same time, I explored different opportunities in the arts and realized that I love film and acting. When I started medical school in Detroit a year later, it dawned on me that there are no sitcoms about medical students despite how ridiculous our lives are. Think Parks and Recreation but in an anatomy lab with gunners and NBMEs. Absolute chaos.
Outside of imagining myself as a director, medical school was where I met some of my closest friends and where I got to experience the actual largest Arab American enclave in the country- Dearborn, Michigan. It was also here that I realized I wasn’t meant to be an internist. After completing my first third-year clerkship in psychiatry, I was sold. From there, I worked on a project assessing the mental health concerns and needs of Iraqi and Syrian refugees resettled to Southeast Michigan which would later shape my interests in residency.
I applied across the country for residency, and my UCLA interview left me in awe of the energy and sense of camaraderie I felt between residents. During my time here, I have met incredible people who are dedicated to understanding and fulfilling the larger role we as psychiatrists play in creating tangible systemic change for the people we serve. My interests in psychiatry include child and adolescent psychiatry and cultural and spiritual psychiatry. However, I am most passionate about refugee, asylee and Muslim mental health and the impact of military and state-sanctioned violence on these communities both in the United States and across the globe.
I currently serve as Community and Global Psychiatry (CGP) co-chief as well as Resident Asylum Clinic chief. In my free time, I like to jam to 2000s Arabic music, check out local craft markets and coffee shops, hike one of LA’s many beautiful trails or relax at the beach with a good book.
Follow Me for a Week
Sunday
On any given weekend in August, I was either moonlighting or on call. I decided I wanted to frontload my call this year so I can live the no-call life sooner! I got to the hospital at 8am and signed onto the consult pager and the adult outpatient pager. I assigned consults to the R2 and moonlighter until the R1 arrived for their shift later that day. I took care of a few floor pages, and answered any calls from nursing that came in the workroom. It was a beautiful day, so I ate lunch outside with the on-call R2 and we had a chance to catch up and check-in. The end of the day got a little overwhelming with the number of consults I was triaging for the team and an unexpected transfer to the psych unit I had to wrap up close to the end of my shift. Thankfully, one of our wonderful R4s was moonlighting that day and gave me a much-needed pep talk to get me through the shift. J I got home at around 10:30pm and chart-reviewed for my Monday patients before going to bed.
Monday
Morning: On Monday mornings I see patients at the Psychosis Clinic. I woke up at around 7am since I have an 8am start time and live just about 10 minutes away. I made my morning coffee and had a quick breakfast before getting ready and heading to work. Unfortunately, I had a couple patients cancel their appointments, but I still had the opportunity to see some follow-up patients. After seeing patients, I answered some emails since I had some unexpected free time. At 11am, our clinic director gave us an excellent talk about clozapine, its efficacy, side effects, use in the United States compared to other countries, and patient outcomes. I have a couple patients across my clinics on clozapine, so it was an extremely helpful refresher!
Afternoon: I am a morning person and love finishing my day early which is why I tried to build a schedule that didn’t have too many days ending late. This is one of those days! On Monday afternoons, I usually go home and work on answering emails and patient messages related to several things- my chief roles, prior authorization updates, medication refills, etc. Additionally, given that I am a new PGY3, I am still in the process of finding therapy patients, so I used this time to connect with a mentor who referred a patient to me.
Tuesday
Morning: Tuesday Mornings are didactic days. From 8-11am, we receive a series of lectures. This week’s didactics were about Outpatient Management of Anxiety Disorders, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, and the Outpatient Management of Psychotic Disorders. From 11-12, we have Semel Grand Rounds. This week’s grand rounds were about expanding care to patients with borderline personality disorder.
Afternoon: Tuesday afternoons are spent preparing for Wednesday which is my busiest day of the week. I chart review for my two Wednesday clinics and prepare my notes for each patient. I send my zoom link to any patient I will be seeing virtually on Wednesday, and I take some time to check my voicemail and patient messages.
Wednesday
Morning: On Wednesday mornings, I have Anxiety Disorders Clinic. This clinic is very different compared to my others and compared to my first two years of residency because in addition to one hour of med management patients, I am also engaging two patients in CBT with the guidance of a supervisor. This is the first time I have practiced CBT, but in this clinic, there is a four-week course on the basics of anxiety disorders and CBT for anxiety disorders which really helps residents feel more confident engaging in this modality at the beginning of the year. This week, I had an 8am therapy patient, and a 9am medication management patient. Usually, the 10am slot is filled with another therapy patient, but mine cancelled due to a work conflict. Since my patient cancelled, I was able to spend that hour with one of my supervisors. We discussed questions I had about CBT, considerations when engaging patients with different anxiety disorders in therapy, and ways to troubleshoot issues with logistics and boundaries with patients. At 11am, we usually have case conference during which time, residents discuss their patient’s diagnoses and progress in therapy with the group, but this week, we received a talk by Dr. Plotkin on cognitive restructuring instead.
Afternoon: On Wednesday afternoons, I have a general mental health clinic during which I see a range of patients with various diagnoses. Most of the patients come in as follow ups for psychiatric problems that have been well-managed on their home medications for months or years. For these patients, we discuss best practices to maintain their progress and check-in about any new health or social changes that may impact their mental health care. We check in about medication refills and any necessary referrals as well. For some patients, medications only address part of the care they need to manage their illness effectively. Oftentimes, during these cases, we will have more in-depth conversations about what resources have and have not worked for the patient and I will place the necessary referrals and follow up with colleagues from other clinics who may be able to offer more assistance with getting patients the care they need. In this clinic, I will occasionally see a new patient, and I have an hour and a half to see the patient, staff with my attending, and wrap up.
Thursday
Morning: I am usually exhausted after Wednesdays, especially if I don’t get all my notes done in clinic and stay up to finish them (which happens more than I’d like to admit). On Thursday mornings, I work with my coresidents at the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Teams (HPACT) clinic. This clinic emphasizes collaboration across disciplines (psychiatry, psychology, internal medicine, social work, etc) to serve unhoused veterans. Unfortunately, I had a couple of patients miss their appointments today. I was able to reach one on the phone and we had a good discussion about a medication we started at his last visit with me last month. We discussed benefits and side effects, and the patient was willing to try a higher dose to target his most distressing symptoms.
Afternoon: On Thursday afternoons, I do not have a standing clinic. However, I see asylum cases through the LA Human Rights Initiative Clinic and Physicians for Human Rights. I saw a case the week before, and this afternoon I had a chance to communicate with the client’s legal counsel about the psychological evaluation we conducted. I wrote the affidavit for the client’s team and sent it off for review by my supervisor and the lawyer. We placed a referral for this patient to see a psychiatrist and a therapist which she was open to. Completing an evaluation for a client seeking asylum is an extremely rewarding experience, but it is only one part of their case, and people often wait years for a decision. I hope to receive good news about this client’s case in the future!
Friday
No clinic today! Every other Friday, I have a CGP chiefs meeting with my wonderful co-chiefs and our faculty advisor. We discuss our mentorship program, global mental health opportunities for residents, ideas for lunch talks, and building community partnerships across Los Angeles. However, today we did not have a meeting and since I don’t have clinic, I flew to Chicago to see my family! My co-resident, Afaf, and I play pager tag, so she kindly covered my pager today and I got to spend a few days with my family over the long holiday weekend.
Saturday
I caught up with a childhood friend in Chicago and had a delicious dinner at a Mexican spot in Lincoln Park. We had Italian ice afterwards and blasted Chappell Roan in the car as we drove down the 290 with a breathtaking view of the city.
PGY-4 Preston Igwe
Education
- BA, Sociology and Pre-Health, University of Notre Dame
- MD, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Bio
I was born in Nigeria but grew up in Southwest Houston, TX, with my parents and older sister. In high school, I received significant exposure to the field of medicine, which sparked a personal desire to become a physician. After high school, I attended the University of Notre Dame, where I studied Sociology and Pre-Health. After undergoing two major jaw surgeries in undergrad, I saw firsthand how humbling it was to be a patient in the American healthcare system, and my desire to become a compassionate and clinically excellent physician intensified. I spent a semester of college studying abroad in London, and I was able to travel throughout Europe during that time. I spent my gap year tutoring students in ethnically and socioeconomically diverse communities back in Houston before enrolling at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) for medical school. At UTMB, I became very involved with the Student National Medical Association, ultimately serving on the national board of directors as Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee. During med school, I became very interested in health disparities and how racism is a monumental risk factor for various diseases that disproportionately affect Black and Brown communities. I chose psychiatry due to my interest in how biology and society interact to affect health, as well as the seemingly limitless career paths within the constantly evolving field. Although initially hesitant to leave Texas again, I was ecstatic to match at UCLA, where I work with amazing people, enjoy sensational work-life balance, and show up as my authentic self each day. Outside of work, I enjoy eating out, listening to live music, and watching tv.
Follow Me for a Week
Morning: I go and play tennis with a few friends in Burbank. The drive is pretty long, so I use the time to call my mom and sister.
PGY-4 Keenan Withers
Bio
Keenan was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and grew up in Ruffin, an unincorporated rural area in North Carolina. After high school he decided to leave the country life behind, and attend the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where he majored in psychology/pre-med. While in undergrad, he studied abroad in the United Kingdom for a semester as a Gilman International Scholar where he studied both behavioral health and biomedical science. After graduation, Keenan was selected as a United States Fulbright Scholar to conduct breast cancer epidemiology research in the Republic of Mauritius. After his Fulbright year, Keenan pursued a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health where he assisted with a number of community service projects geared towards HIV mental health and substance treatment interventions for the Black community in Southeast Washington DC. He also worked under the NIH Psychiatry Consultation Liaison service where he discovered his passion for improving care of medical/surgical patients with co-occurring psychiatric conditions. After his fellowship at the NIH, Keenan moved to Los Angeles, to start medical school at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. After completing his third year of medical school, Keenan pursued a research year through the NIH Fogarty International GloCal Fellowship where he studied the factors that impact Pre-Exposure-Prophylaxis (PrEP) adherence among men who have sex with men (MSM) who frequently use methamphetamine in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Given his passion for social justice, Keenan sees countless opportunities in psychiatry to eliminate the structural and social barriers that prevent minority populations from accessing quality mental healthcare and substance use treatment services. Activities outside of medicine include going to the gym, beach, hiking, road trips with friends across California and the Midwest, international travel, and debating with people on ClubHouse.