The Psychiatry Student Interest Group Network is a working group to foster the involvement, organization, and implementation of student psychiatry interest groups at individual medical schools throughout North America. The group functions as a central hub for the exchange of ideas, information, and resources for student coalitions in psychiatry. It also promotes the discourse for psychiatric education in the medical school community and for advocacy and justice in mental health as an integral part of health overall.

We believe that mental health is a fundamental part of general well being, and an understanding of its principles should underlie all aspects of medical care, education, and policy. By working to connect students, interest groups, psychiatry faculty, and area psychiatrists to the mental health care needs in the community, we hope to promote a heightened involvement and immediacy in psychiatry at each of these levels.

PsychSIGN holds an annual conference in conjunction with the APA Annual Meeting. The first meeting was held in May 2006 in Toronto, ON and drew over 100 students representing 60 medical schools. The second annual conference took place in San Diego in May 2007.  Recently, the third annual conference took place in Washington DC. 

In addition, PsychSIGN holds a number of regional conferences throughout the year, often in conjunction with professional meetings such as the Institute on Psychiatric Services, the American Medical Association National Meeting and the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Last year, PsychSIGN held regional conferences in Boston and New York.

The PsychSIGN Executive Board consists of regional chairs from each of our 7 regions as well as one national chair.

Region 1 includes Ontario and Quebec Region 5 includes Puerto Rico Region 7 includes Western Canada, AK and HI

National Chair:
Vandai X. Le
University of California - Los Angeles

Vandai will be entering her 4th year at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA this year.  Although born in Saigon, Vietnam, she grew up in Orange County (the “OC”), California, where she received her B.S. in Neurobiology from the University of California, Irvine.  Surprisingly, her interests in psychiatry were not established until beginning the psychiatry clerkship in her 3rd year.  Soon after, her decision to pursue the field was solidified by the strong mentors she had at UCLA and the various psychiatry opportunities she experienced outside of school.  She has participated in Addiction Medicine training through The Summer Institute for Medical Students at the Betty Ford Center, and has just recently been awarded the 2008-2009 AACAP Jeanne Spurlock Minority Clinical Fellowship for Medical Students.    Besides child psychiatry, Vandai also has special interests in psychodynamic psychotherapy, forensic psychiatry, and mental healthcare in the Asian American community.  Outside of medicine, she enjoys wine, jazz, experimental cooking, and simply spending quality time with her family, including playing Wii with her 9 nephews and nieces.

Region 1: CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT, Ontario and Quebec

Justin Chen
Yale Medical School

Justin is a 3rd-year medical student at Yale. He grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and attended the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. As an undergraduate at Yale he double-majored in comparative literature and biochemistry and became heavily involved in campus journalism at the Yale Herald. He deferred his acceptance to med school for one year to pursue a research project on the autoimmune disease lupus on a Fulbright scholarship in Germany. His academic interests include health care policy, journalism, Asian-American and LGBT mental health, and medical student education.

Region 2: NY

Iman Parhami
St. George's University - School Of Medicine

Iman is currently a fourth year medical student at St. George’s University doing his clinical rotations in New York City.  Iman grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles (Encino, California) and attended the University of Southern California for his undergraduate studies.  At USC, he majored in Psychology and was involved with various student organizations.  After USC, Iman decided to obtain a MPH from St. George’s University and complete his field experience in London (United Kingdom) at the National Health Service's Public Health Division of Barnet.  In the future, Iman hopes to specialize in addiction psychiatry, and work in underprivileged communities promoting public health and prevention, specifically relating to mental health.   

Region 3: DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA

Lara Cox
University of Pittsburgh - School of Medicine

Lara Cox is a third year medical student at the University of Pittsburgh.  She grew up in Stillwater, MN, and had decided that she wanted to be a psychiatrist by her sophomore year of high school.  At Kenyon College, she was heavily involved in psychology and neuroscience research, GLBTQ activism, and the theatre – if she hadn’t gone into medicine, she would most likely have become a professional stage director and makeup artist.  She graduated with high honors in neuroscience and distinction in psychology, and went directly to Pittsburgh.  She is part of the Clinical Scientist Training Program, which adds a year to her medical training.  During that time she will earn a master’s in clinical research and focus on the research on self-injurious behavior that she has begun with the guidance of Dr. David Brent.  She is also president of her school’s psychiatry interest group.  When she grows up, she wants to be both an academic and a clinician, and to continue her research on SIB.  In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with the love of her life, cooking, exercising, listening to an eclectic mix of music, and drinking a phenomenal amount of coffee.

Region 4: IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI

Ndidi Onyejiaka
University of Missouri at Kansas City

Ndidi is currently in her last year of the 6 year combined BA/MD program at University of Missouri at Kansas City.  She attended New Trier Township High School on Chicago's North Shore where she learned that value of diligence, endurance, and community service.  In her spare time, Ndidi allocates her time to volunteering and mentoring to children, caring for the homeless at an area free clinic, and occasionally giving lectures at women's shelters.  She is also an active member and officer of the Student National Medical Association in addition to her local psychiatry and pediatric interest groups.  Ndidi's interest in children and in psychiatry personifies her passion to advocate for those whom often cannot do so for themselves.  Today, she takes strides towards the challenge of becoming a physician that can doctor to both pediatric and psychiatric populations cohesively.

Rina Crawford

Region 5: AB, AK, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, PR and Uniformed Services

Jessica Birkhead
Mercer University - School of Medicine

Jessica is currently in her second year at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia. She has been interested in the field of psychiatry since high school, and graduated from Emory University in Atlanta with a BS in the major of Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology and a second major in Psychology. While in college she found a special interest in peer counseling, volunteering as a Peer Assistance Leader and on the Student Helpline. After graduating, Jessica worked with toddlers with autism and other developmental disorders and found her passion. Now at Mercer, she still has an interest in peer counseling as a member of the AIMS (Aiding Impaired Medical Students) committee, is president of her school's Psychiatry Interest Group, and plans to follow a path toward child psychiatry. And last but not least, after dating a wonderful college classmate for over five years, she is engaged and looking forward to her September wedding!

Landon Williams
East Carolina University - Brody School of Medicine

Landon is currently in his third year at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.  He is enrolled in a dual degree MD/MBA program so that he can learn the business of medicine and work toward making quality health care affordable for everyone.  He fell in love with psychiarty in his 1st intro to psych class at the University of Georgia, where he graduated with a B.S. in psychology.  He has done neuropsychology research at his undergrad institution and continues to do research in medical school, working specifically with the Mini Mental Status Exam and how it is used in elderly populations.  In addition to advocating for mental health awareness and education at his medical school, he is also an avid member of SNMA and AMA.  He plans for his eventual career to be in the field of addiction medicine as an addiction psychiatrist.  He hopes to play a significant role in developing and improving treatment of the chronic widespread illness of addiction.  In his spare time, Landon enjoys catching up on his favorites shows through DVR technology, as well as playing tennis, and spending a night out on the town with his friends.   

Region 6: CA

Nabyl Tejani
University of California, San Diego

Nabyl is a third-year medical student at the University of California at San Diego. The son of a father who struggled as a writer and professor of African literature, he grew up focused on using his mathematical and scientific strengths to earn a living. While studying as an undergraduate at Yale he found psychology and philosophy classes interesting but chose to major in mechanical engineering. The choice was due in part to his interest in inventing and building with his hands, but also in part to the promise of job security that often accompanies skilled technical positions. After taking a job with Accenture and working as Information Technology consultant to Fortune 500 companies, he soon realized that his passion for working to better society was yet unfulfilled. Medical school offered a path to that end, but it was not until discovering psychiatry that he felt most able to use his experiences as an immigrant, entrepreneur, and traveler to relate to patients and attempt to understand both what ails them and how best to approach their healing. 

Region 7: AK, AZ, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY and Western Canada

Kristin McArthur
University of Washington - School of Medicine

Kristin is beginning her fourth year of medical school at the University of Washington.  She has spent almost her entire life living in the beautiful Seattle area, including her undergraduate years also at the University of Washington.  She has always been fascinated by the brain and behavior, so she majored in psychology (which she found too theoretical) and neurobiology (which she found too molecularly focused).  During undergrad she was able to participate in a study abroad program called Semester at Sea and fell in love with traveling and the idea of being a physician in places like India or Kenya.  After graduating she joined the Peace Corps to gain more international experience and became a health education volunteer in the Republic of Moldova.  She then returned to Seattle and worked a year as a research assistant on a rehabilitation medicine study at the University of Washington.  During medical school she has found the perfect combination of brain and behavior in psychiatry and is considering specializing in geriatrics. 

Facilitator

Karen Palaszynski
Emory University - PGY 1 : July 2008

Recently, Karen graduated from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and will soon start her psychiatry residency at Emory University.  After graduating with a BS in chemistry and a minor in psychology from Wagner College (NYC), Karen matriculated and graduated from the Neuroscience Doctorate Program at UCLA. Following graduate school, Karen maintained her insatiable interest for mental health and decided she was interested in a career with more direct patient contact than research offered. She felt a PhD and her interests would best be combined with a medical degree, and matriculated into UCLA SOM in 2004. When Karen is not busy studying, her interests include ballet, enjoying the beach, traveling, and spending time with her Chihuahua, friends, and family.