Associate Professor of Psychiatry; Medical Student Education Director; Director of Center for Medical Humanities; Medical Humanities Thread Leader
Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Psychiatry
I am board-certified in psychiatry, and I work as an emergency psychiatrist at Erie County Medical Center (ECMC). I regularly care for patients who have diagnoses ranging from schizophrenia to substance use disorders. I have been recognized with awards for my compassionate care of psychiatric patients.
I am also engaged in research, with a primary interest in medical student education. I have presented at a professional meeting--usually at the national level--every year since completing my residency. My topics have included a variety of areas in teaching, e.g., curriculum innovations and use of media in education, with an emphasis on psychiatric material. I also have a research interest in the stigma of mental disorders. In the past few years, I have become interested in the field of Positive Psychology and have received a Certification in Positive Psychology from the Wholebeing Institute. With the support of the Jacobs School of Medicine, I have been able to incorporate teaching on topics in Positive Psychology into the medical student curriculum.
I am deeply committed to teaching and mentoring the next generation of physicians who will care for the mentally ill. The Psychiatric Emergency room is one of the primary teaching units at ECMC. As director of medical student education in psychiatry, most of my responsibilities and day-to-day activities include teaching and training medical students and residents. I orient and lecture the third-year medical students in my role as clerkship director, oversee the third-year medical student curriculum, coordinate the three-week psychiatry segment of the Neuroscience and Behavior course for the second-year students and lecture for a significant part of the course. I also teach the psychiatry residents on my inpatient unit and regularly deliver resident lectures.
I have been recognized for teaching throughout my career, both at the school and national levels. For example, I twice received the Mentor of the Year award from UB’s psychiatry residents, and I received the Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents from the American Psychiatric Association. Most recently I received the Siegel Distinguished Teaching Award, an award selected by medical students for excellence in teaching.