Snapshots
Maya hails from the swamps and cold of Minneapolis where she learned how to entertain herself with minimal stimulus and began wondering why people exist. She found herself convinced she’d be an astrophysicist or badass mathematician or classics scholar until she started at UC Berkeley and discovered an unshakeable love for philosophy and religious studies. After scraping together a major in buddhist studies and mystical experience, she hung around Berkeley to play with clay and marine animals. She entered UCLA med school interested in anything and all things around end of life, from trauma to palliative care. She found psychiatry as a refuge within medicine and the last stronghold of holistic care. In her copious spare time she plays Africa by Toto on the keyboard, watches sci-fi and reality TV, drives on twisty roads with the windows down and music on blast, and cooks vegan food that even normal people enjoy.
Education:
M.D.: UCLA
B.A.: Religious Studies, UC Berkeley
- The year consists of 13 blocks.
- 6 blocks are spent doing non-psychiatry rotations, which include the following: 1 block of inpatient medicine at the VA, 1 month of Emergency Medicine at the VA, 2 months of ambulatory medicine at the Sepulveda VA, 1 month of neurology at the VA, and 1 month of Neurobehavior at the VA.
- 6 blocks are spent doing psychiatry rotations, which include the following: 2 months of inpatient Geriatric Psychiatry at UCLA, 1 month of Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit at the VA, 1 month of Emergency Psychiatry at Harbor, 1 month of Dual Diagnosis at the VA, and 2 blocks of 2 weeks of Night Float at UCLA, each of which is paired with 2 blocks of 2 weeks of vacation.
- We take psychiatry call on the following rotations: Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit, Dual Diagnosis, Geriatric Psychiatry, Outpatient Medicine, Neurology, and Neurobehavior.
- Psychiatry call may be at either UCLA or the VA.
- We take medicine call with our internal medicine team when on Inpatient Medicine.
- We do Harbor Psychiatry call when on our Harbor Psych ER rotation.
- We do not take call when working in the Medical ER.
- The frequency of psychiatry call is approximately q. 5 call.
- Most calls are in the form of weekday “short calls”, which are from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
- No work shifts are scheduled for more than 14 hours.
- We have a Night Float system at UCLA, which consists of 10 nights of overnight call over a 2 week period. We do night float twice during the year, and it is paired with out vacations, which are taken in 2 week blocks. When on Night Float, we work from 6 p.m. until 8 a.m.
- We do not take weekend day call. If on call over the weekend, it is always overnight.
- We always have an in-house senior to provide back-up.
- We have an average of 2 weekends completely free of call each month during rotations taking psychiatry call.
Follow Me For a Week
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Morning
I’ve got morning conference at 815am up at Sepulveda VA where I am doing outpatient medicine. The lecture this morning is on the work up of Vertigo. After munching on breakfast and slurping down coffee, I am in Primary Care clinic and I get to see 3 patients.
Afternoon
After noon conference about subacute thyroiditis and a nice lunch of leftovers from the weekend, I am back in Primary Care clinic to see 4 patients. I get to learn about adjusting insulin regimens because my last patient has a HgA1C of 12. I am thankful today for an attending who is happy to take time to teach.
Evening
I get home around 5:30pm and spend a good hour and a half cooking a large meal to last the week. After stuffing myself, my plans to study for Step 3 are thwarted by a more tempting activity of making a good playlist. I then go for a run through Westwood around 9pm and get back to catch up on the finale of Bachelor in Paradise. Don’t judge.
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Morning
Afternoon
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Morning
Afternoon
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