A Psychiatrists Journey in Psychiatry – AADPRT and the IMG Fellowship Experience: Guest Blog
As part of PRMS’ ongoing efforts to support the behavioral healthcare community and to promote the organizations that work towards this mission, we are pleased to highlight the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT) and Dr. Maria Camila Velez Florez, PGY-2 Adult Psychiatry Resident at the Massachusetts General Hospital/ McLean Hospital at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, as our featured guest blogger. Dr. Velez Florez shares more about her experience attending the 2024 AADPRT Annual Meeting.
Discovering AADPRT: Transformative Leadership in Psychiatric Education
I first learned about AADPRT from my program director. I was amazed to discover the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and their mission to prepare trainees to meet challenges by fostering a transformative environment that embraces justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. AADPRT is known for its exceptional leadership and innovation in psychiatric education, making it one of the most prestigious organizations in the field.
As an international medical graduate, my journey through diverse medical landscapes has given me a unique perspective on mental healthcare delivery. From resource-limited settings to advanced clinical environments, my goal has always been to create meaningful change.
Addressing Healthcare Disparities in Hispanic Communities
Since practicing medicine in the United States, I've observed significant healthcare challenges faced by Hispanic communities. The complexity of understanding culture, magnified by language barriers, often leads to misdiagnoses, low treatment adherence, and poor healthcare access and quality. This inspired me to seek solutions in collaboration with colleagues who share a vision for reducing health disparities.
One thing that struck me is the high prevalence of trauma among our patients. When caring for Hispanic individuals, it is crucial to acknowledge aspects and values such as culturally bound syndromes, familism, paternalism, stigma or interpretation of mental illness, machismo, and immigration-related challenges. These factors shape the patient’s experience and create barriers to care or unique opportunities for healing. While our curriculum includes trauma didactics, we weren't prepared for these cultural challenges, nor was there sufficient literature to help us. With my background in education and passion for caring for marginalized communities, I created a project to address this gap.
My program director, an expert in community-based interventions for Hispanic communities, was thrilled and very supportive of my endeavor. She nominated me for this prestigious fellowship, knowing how it would help and enrich my project development. So, I applied, not expecting to win!
Transformative Impact of the Nyapati Rao and Francis Lu IMG Fellowship
To my delight, I was awarded the Nyapati Rao and Francis Lu International Medical Graduate (IMG) Fellowship, underwritten by PRMS. With great support from my program director, I felt validated and seen. The fellowship provided mentorship and support through an incredible, prestigious association. It is heartening to see that they are aware of the unique challenges faced by IMGs and create spaces to support us on our journey.
Exploring Innovation and Community at the AADPRT Annual Conference
A conference of program directors and leaders in psychiatry? I was definitely intimidated by the thought. I wondered what it would be like and couldn't imagine the high quality of the lectures. However, I knew that the updates and innovations happening in psychiatry could be found at the AADPRT conference, which seemed like the perfect place to discover them. The more I learned about AADPRT, the more I wanted to attend the annual meeting.
Once there, I realized how wonderful the community feeling was at the meeting. I connected with residents, fellows, administrative staff, and approachable program directors. Coming from such diverse backgrounds, it was amazing to learn from each other's unique experiences in training and life. I was in awe of one of the talks, "Positive Deviance and Change Leadership," especially the talent of the speaker, Dr. Arvind Singhal. The Positive Deviance Approach is fascinating because it shifts the focus from deficits and gaps to identifying and amplifying successful behaviors already present in a community. I found this approach incredibly empowering, as it highlights the potential for change from within the community itself rather than relying solely on external interventions. Additionally, the idea that solutions can be derived from those who thrive under the same constraints as their peers is both innovative and practical, making it a powerful tool for addressing complex social and organizational problems. This perspective on change management was both enlightening and inspiring, leaving me eager to explore how these principles can be applied in my work.
Driving Impactful Initiatives in Psychiatry: Reflections on AADPRT's Community and Innovation
My goal is to fuel and lead impactful initiatives and create innovative solutions for equitable access to mental health care alongside changemakers in psychiatry. This was truly the place to be. Having mentors who shared these intersecting identities has been incredibly affirming and inspiring.
I am grateful to AADPRT and PRMS for making this conference happen. I encourage others to attend, not only for the high-quality and innovative educational content but also to experience the strong sense of community and connection within psychiatric academic institutions across the U.S.
Dr. Maria Camila Velez Florez
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