Thank you for choosing to vote in the Region Chair elections. The primary responsibility of the region chair is to help you. To better do this, PsychSIGN has many guidelines that can be viewed in our constitution (pages 4-5). Ultimately, their responsibility is to represent you, and to provide you with support, guidance, and opportunities to excel in your future career in Psychiatry. Voting closes April 23rd.
Regions are geographically organized according to the map above. Please find your region, learn about the listed candidates, and vote for your region only (based on location of medical school).
Thank you for taking the time to do this, we hope that these chairs will help you over the next year to be more prepared to enter the wonderful world of Psychiatry.
~ Brandon Prunty | PsychSIGN President-Elect
Region Chair candidates, organized by region
Region 1: MA, ME, NH, RI, VT, CT, Canadian Provinces: ON, QC, NS, NL, PE, NB
Vote for Region 1 here
Lucy Kogut (video)
My name is Lucy Kogut and I am a third-year medical student at UMass Chan Medical School and I will be applying into child and adolescent psychiatry. I am interested in the role of Regional Chair for Region 1. The first three years of medical school were really only possible for me because I had a community of compassionate classmates, mentors, and friends surrounding me. PsychSIGN allows us to create these communities in our professional settings as well, and I want to strengthen these relationships with a health mentor program. This program will pair senior students with more junior students at other institutions. Mentors can practice motivational interviewing and psychotherapy skills while sharing advice and mentees can gain valuable wisdom and support from their peers. The transition to increasingly hybridized models of medical education has isolated many students. It has also highlighted the importance of relationships in medical education. I hope to work with PsychSIGN to support future physicians both personally and professionally throughout their training. No one really understands what we are going through better than other medical students. PsychSIGN and health coaching will provide opportunities for any medical student within the organization to find and provide support so that no medical student ever needs to feel alone.
Serra Sozen (video)
Hi all! My name is Serra Sozen, an M3 at the University of Vermont, and I’m thrilled to be running for Region 1 Chair this year! Having grown up in the Northeast, I’ve witnessed firsthand the array of mental health needs in this region, whether it’s been through conducting opioid use research in Vermont or volunteering with justice-involved individuals in South Connecticut. Within this position, I want to be a resource for PSYCHSIGN members to learn more about the diverse social disparities that exist in our communities and how they manifest in different psychiatric phenomena.
As region chair, I hope to form meaningful connections across members in our region and create robust learning, research, and volunteering opportunities for everyone. I aim to be a hub of information for those interested in any avenue within psychiatry and establish more frequent events through which students can network and also learn more about the field. I hope to collaborate and check in with members often to gauge interest and tailor Region 1 outreach to topics that our cohort feels passionate about. Above all, I want to foster a space in which students can easily get to know one another and engage in different psych-related experiences, like new volunteering opportunities in the area, Q&As with psychiatrists/program directors based here, or just a virtual coffee hour with regional students. There are so many PSYCHSIGN members even within my own state that I haven’t yet gotten the chance to interact with and I feel like being able to just bond (even virtually!) over a field that we hold close to our hearts is something I wish I’d done earlier on in my career. Psychiatry is a field driven by human connection, and I hope to leverage this to expand upon the reach and caliber of Region 1! : )
Region 2: NY
Vote for Region 2 here
Alexander Fang (video)
My name is Alexander Fang, and I am a third-year medical student at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine who is interested in joining PsychSIGN as a Regional Chair. Psychiatry and leadership are two of my passions and I would love to be able to meld both in this position.
In respect to my qualifications, I have been fortunate to be involved in a myriad of leadership opportunities throughout my medical education. I am currently the president of the Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group where I have advocated for curricular reform to include increased nutritional education as well as further discussion of mental health. Additionally, I serve on the College of Medicine 2024 Student Liaison Committee as the Committee on Education Policy and Curriculum (CEPC) Chair in which I engage in bi-monthly discussions with our college of medicine core curricular faculty. These conversations revolve around curricular reform, and I aggregate comments from the student body in order to encourage a culture of open communication between students and faculty. Furthermore, I have experience with leadership working as the student coordinator of my research group whereby I oversee a team of 12 students engaging in clinical research and statistical analysis. Lastly, I am currently serving as the Events Chair of SUNY Downstate’s Psychiatry Student Interest Group where I am in the process of planning a mindfulness panel including Dr. Joe Loizzo to discuss the beneficial effects of contemplative practices on healing, learning and development.
My goals for the region would be to increase the awareness of all medical students to PsychSIGN, especially those in the New York area. Additionally, I would be very interested in organizing a PsychSIGN regional project that is focused on mindfulness meditation and the incorporation of this into daily routines as well as into clinical practice for our future patients.
Priyanka Algu (video)
Hi everyone! My name is Priyanka Algu, and I am a NY-native, 3rd year medical student at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. As NY Regional Chair, my goal is to serve as a helpful liaison between PsychSIGN members, leaders, and our APA contact, so that we may be able to openly share events and opportunities of interest. My experience for this role-type stems from my involvement in organizations Peer Health Exchange (PHE) and Project TEACH. PHE is an organization consisting of volunteer college educators providing mental health education to high school students in Brooklyn, and as Coordinator, I managed intercampus communications by leading team meetings, and organizing email updates and team bonding events to ensure all organizational levels were able to provide input regarding curriculum changes. Project TEACH is an organization centered upon providing educational programming to children in hospitals, and as Coordinator, I collaborated with Child Life Specialists and student volunteer teams to create and broadcast interactive science educational video modules for patients at Cohen Children’s Medical Center.
I hope to bring some of my interests into my work with PsychSIGN as well. In my personal time, I enjoy crocheting and videogaming. This has extended into my excitement about digital psychiatry, and I can envision organizing VR demos of therapeutic videogames as part of PsychSIGN virtual conferences. With my interests in child & adolescent psychiatry and community advocacy, I also would enjoy hosting panels for our members with local clinic and school-based teams within NY.
Rushali Kothari (video)
Hi everyone, my name is Rushali Kothari and I’m a current 2nd year at Albany Medical College running to be the PsychSIGN Region 2 Chair representing the state of New York. I’d like to use this opportunity to share a little bit about my goals if elected to this position.
As a community of future psychiatrists, it’s key that we are able to support and help each other through this journey so I’d like to find ways to connect us all.
Therefore, I propose a 3-pronged approach:
- Mentorship program to pair upper year students with those earlier on in medical school
- Would pair students based on shared interests, backgrounds, and goals
- Work with the APA to provide from experienced medical students, program leadership, and industry professionals on the following topics:
- Doing well on clerkships
- Research/Extracurriculars
- Residency Applications
- Away Applications
- Post-Match Panel consisting of M4s that recently matched
- Opportunities beyond clinical medicine (academics, research, consulting, etc.)
- System to encourage direct communication between chapters and region members (such as Forums or Discord)
Of course, throughout this process, I am open to hearing what you would like to see and working to make that happen, whether it is discussions on different topics, in-person meetups, or something else entirely. Thank you all for your consideration!
Region 3: DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA
Gracie Jenkins is running unopposed, meet your new Region Chair!
Gracie Jenkins (video)
My interest in psychiatry began after seeing a loved one struggle with substance use disorder. This experience ultimately led me to medical school, drove much of my extracurricular work, and would motivate my goals if appointed region chair. In the context of the current opioid epidemic, recent FDA approval expanding access to Narcan, and emerging popularity of treatments like Suboxone for opioid use disorder, it’s crucial that the future physicians of PsychSIGN’s region 3, which has some of the highest numbers of drug overdoses in the country, be knowledgeable about and committed to treating patients with SUD.
During my first two years of medical school, I led the Harm Reduction and Addiction Medicine (HRAM) student interest group. In collaboration with administration, I facilitated a training event where students were instructed on how to recognize the signs of an overdose and administer Narcan. Furthermore, I organized and oversaw a Narcan kit making event where students assembled over 500 kits. These were then distributed to the New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition to help battle against overdose deaths plaguing our district. To address these issues on a macro level, I orchestrated a phone bank enabling medical students to urge our state representatives to pass legislation to remove restrictive barriers to harm reduction programs and decriminalize syringe possession.
As region chair, I would be committed to creating opportunities for students to learn about harm reduction and addiction, as SUD will inevitably be a large part of their future work as medical professionals in the field of psychiatry. My passion, commitment, and experience in psychiatry will enable me to collaborate with the next generation of psychiatrists to promote high quality psychiatric education for trainees, with the long term goal of expanding access to and improving the quality of care delivered to patients in need.
Region 4: IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI
Madeline Schmiedeknecht is running unopposed, meet your new Region Chair!
Madeline Schmiedeknecht (video)
As Region Chair, I want to find more Psychiatric experiences for medical students, help de-stigmatize mental health by hosting educational panels, and find more research opportunities for medical students.
As a second-year medical student, I have served on the Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine PsychSIG Executive Board for the past two years. I started as the Social Media chair and now serve as the President. This past year we have created a program where medical students can volunteer in Inpatient Outpatient group therapy. As Region Chair, I would work to find and grow more programs that expose medical students to Psychiatry.
The Marian PsychSIG co-hosted a Recovery and Addiction Medicine Panel to de-stigmatize substance use. Over 60 members of Marian attended and learned about treatments and stigmas associated with addiction from healthcare members in our community.
To continue the advancements within Psychiatry, I want to help with research and find more opportunities for medical school students to contribute. I have been fortunate to start and co-lead wellness research at my medical school. The team has grown to 9 medical students, and we are presenting a poster at the next American Psychiatric Association Conference. I am also lucky to be able to assist with Alzheimer’s Research at another medical school.
With my experiences organizing psychiatry volunteering, hosting panels, and leading and helping with research projects, I have developed a great network and a good base understanding of Psychiatry. As Region Chair, I will use what I have learned to help medical students find opportunities in their preclinical years, continue to work with the community and host educational opportunities, and find more research opportunities for medical students. Most importantly, I will listen to what the members of the PsychSIG region want and work to make their vision happen.
Region 5: AL, AK, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, PR and Uniformed Services
Vote for Region 5 here
Ananya Roy (video)
I am Ananya Roy, a third-year medical student, and MPH candidate at UT Austin’s Dell Medical School. I am particularly interested in community-based partnerships and the interplay of social determinants of health as they relate to mental illness.
At Dell, I have served on the leadership team for our psychiatry student interest group for the past three years. On a regional level, I work with the Texas Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPINET) to understand the impact of substance use on the recovery of youth with early psychosis. I also manage EPINET-TX’s newsletter, sharing relevant clinical implications of research in first-episode psychosis and upcoming training opportunities for practitioners. I also work as a resource coordinator for the Perinatal Psychiatry Access Network (PeriPAN), a state-funded pilot program to improve maternal mental health outcomes during the ongoing shortage of mental health professionals. This year I was selected to participate in APA’s SAMHSA Summer Medical Student Program to understand better national initiatives addressing mental health inequity. I have connected with widespread networks throughout the state and learned a lot about communicating effectively and efficiently.
One of the aims of PsychSIGN is to foster connections between medical students with a passion for mental health and organize relevant topics for learning. If allowed to represent my region, I would love to expand on the newsletter to showcase important initiatives and work medical students do, particularly in promoting health equity. I also want to formalize a mentorship network where trainees from different institutions can learn from one another as we navigate medical school. There are a lot of unspoken rules in the journey to residency, and I want to help find ways to support one another as we become future psychiatrists.
Anhkim Pho (video)
My name is Anhkim Pho and I am a rising 4th year at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine-Louisiana and I am enthralled about the field of Psychiatry and would love to share that enthusiasm with my colleagues in the respective medical institutions in Region 5 as I am a Dallas native and am also completing my core rotations in the Northwest Louisiana region. Specifically, I am interested in Cultural Psychiatry, Functional Nutrition, Psychedelic Psychiatry, and Neuropsychiatry. As a daughter of two refugee immigrants in a war-torn country, I witnessed first-hand the effects of my family members’ trauma and how it manifests in their daily lives and understand the lack of desire to seek mental health outlets. This rejection of facing their internal struggle head-on has led to some Southeast Asian American second-generation children feeling a bit lost about their own emotions and boundaries growing up, and I would like to connect and empathize with future patients who understand this predicament. Addressing mental illness is taboo across many cultures, not just my own, and I would love to embark on this cathartic journey with people from all walks of life.
Regarding this Regional Chair position, I believe that I would be an ideal fit due to my past experience in a different national organization’s Membership Committee for the past 3 years, starting as a Southeast Regional Director as a first-year medical student to earning a promotion to the Co-Chair position where I recruited 5 osteopathic schools into our cohort while adding 350+ student members over the past year. Therefore, I am dedicated to increasing the number of students to become PsychSIGN members, as Psychiatry is such a unique and important field and there is no better place that congregates such valuable Psychiatry-related information than here!
Region 6: CA
Vote for Region 6 here
Esha Aneja (video)
Hi everyone! My name is Esha Aneja, and I am a medical student at California Northstate College of Medicine. Having spent most of my life in California, I am further drawn to serving our region on a personal level and fostering a deeper sense of community among all our local PsychSIGN organizations. It would be an absolute honor to serve as your regional chair because I want to be someone who you can rely on and comfortably approach to cheer you on and support your goals of pursuing psychiatry!
My love for psychiatry stems from working with the California Department of Health Care Services on policies increasing access to mental health services for 14 million low-income families in our state. It was life-changing seeing how simply better access to mental health leads to better health care outcomes overall. This led me to help create a statewide trauma-informed care screening program with California Surgeon General, Dr. Nadine Harris, so children have earlier access to mental health resources to help them thrive. Additionally, through my minor in Disability Studies at UC Berkeley, I studied systemic factors preventing marginalized populations from obtaining adequate access to mental health care. This has made me passionate about the field of psychiatry and advocating for equal and better mental healthcare for all.
If I am elected regional chair, I want to bring these experiences so we can connect more with legislators and stay updated on policies in psychiatry. I will dedicate my time to creating a better platform for communication across all the PsychSIGN chapters in our region and ensuring we have all the resources we need to pursue psychiatry. I hope to foster a collaborative environment where we can have more networking opportunities with psychiatrists and other medical students to become more knowledgeable future psychiatrists together 🙂
Gabriel Zamora (video)
My first steps towards a career in psychiatry began with serving as a health fair volunteer in college. I was excited to bring free mental healthcare to the members of my community. I watched a family approach the mental health screening room. I noticed the father seemed uneasy. He indicated he didn’t see any sign of mental health issues in his family. Meanwhile his teenage daughter, “Lilly” told the psychiatrist she wanted to be seen alone. Reluctantly, she expressed thoughts of suicide and even had a shard of glass in her nightstand she planned to use to end her life. After talking with Lilly about connecting with mental health care, she allowed her mom to join. Lilly’s mom stated she was aware of her daughter’s struggles, but her husband refused to acknowledge them. As a Latino, this isn’t the first time I’ve witnessed the effects of cultural barriers. Facing similar struggles at a similar time in her life, my cousin’s mental health needs were ignored by members of my family until she tried to take her own life. These events inspired me to become a leader in medical school dedicated to empowering members of my community with mental health education. Since starting medical school at UCSF, I’ve been grateful to serve as the president of the psychiatry student interest group on campus, where I organized panels, lunch talks, mentorship events, community outreach programs, and psychiatry movie nights to help share the beauty in mental health care. I enjoy contributing to new discoveries in mental health research featured on several US news channels, as well as mentoring under-resourced high school students interested in mental health careers. As a PsychSIGN regional chair, I will use my experience to empower fellow medical students and community members with resources to improve mental health care.
Ivan Lee (video)
My name is Ivan Lee, and I am a rising fourth year at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California. I am a California native, spending most of my life in Northern California, until medical school when I moved down the Southern California. My interest in psychiatry stems from growing up around the stigmatized cultural, familial, and religious perceptions of mental health. Later in college, I learned how intricately intertwined physical and mental health are, and I hoped to further explore this dynamic in medical school. Preclinical didactics emphasized the basics, such as mood and anxiety disorders, but only captured a small subsection of psychiatry, and hides the various career options, treatment modalities, and innovative research that the specialty is comprised of. My goal is to expose medical students to the diverse spectrum of opportunities psychiatry has to offer, beyond what is taught in the classroom.
During my first year as Region 6 Chair, I learned a lot about how to approach this goal. I’ve gained insight into interacting with the medical students and PsychSIGs in California, the opportunities and resources they seek out, and ways to connect with them. I have seen the joy in first year medical students connecting with like-minded peers, the excitement of PsychSIGs being revived at schools or started at newer medical schools, and the camaraderie of California medical students and psychiatrist coming together to network as fourth years navigate the residency application process. If re-elected, I hope to continue to invest in the work that’s being done and be the bridge for students to explore psychiatry. Whether that’s through promoting events, hosting panels, or planning research conference, I aim to be the helping hand for psychiatry-interest California student to see the exciting prospects within the field, throughout Region 6 and beyond.
Region 7: AK, AZ, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY, Canadian Provinces: AB, BC, MB, SK
Vote for Region 7 here
Annika Hansen (video)
My interest in psychiatry began when I was in undergrad. I volunteered at a 24/7 crisis call line. My most memorable call was one at 3AM. It was a student, she was studying the same major I was. I learned we were very similar, we had similar interests and hobbies and values. She was thinking of taking her own life. We talked for several hours. After hanging up I couldn’t stop wondering what made my reality so different from that of the girl I talked to, we were really quite similar, but she was experiencing so much pain. To be human is not an objective experience: as put by Shakespeare through Hamlet, “Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” A malfunctioning brain can turn the world from a beautiful, welcoming, familiar place into a place of incomprehensible terror. I am interested in psychiatry because I hope to bring hope and relief to those who are suffering from that deeply tragic transformation.
Despite knowing that I was interested in psychiatry before starting medical school; I have found it difficult to get exposure to the field. In large part because of COVID, shadowing has been difficult. I am running for a regional chair because I am interested in expanding access to the field of psychiatry. I want to facilitate more people learning about the opportunities in the field as well as how to be a successful applicant much as the past regional leadership has done.
Paris Beauregard (video)
Dear PsychSIGN Members and Leadership,
I am pleased to express my strong interest in serving as Region 7 Chair. Engaging with other PsychSIGN members makes me feel motivated, inspired, and seen, and I would be honored to continue to be involved with this organization. If elected, my goals would be to promote robust communication within our region and to develop projects and initiatives to address regional issues in psychiatry.
My passion for psychiatry is rooted in my personal and professional experiences, starting with my father’s bipolar I disorder, which sparked my curiosity and drive to better understand mental illness from a young age. Before starting medical school, I spent nearly four years working in mental health care with dual-diagnosis populations, where I honed my skills in effective communication, active listening, and compassionate care.
As President of both my campus’ PsychSIG and Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) chapter, I have demonstrated the leadership, communication, and organizational skills necessary to support Region 7 as Chair. I believe that we can improve our regional network by utilizing social media platforms and hosting virtual events that foster collaboration, discussion, and engagement.
I would also like to empower PsychSIGs to develop or grow existing connections with local professional psychiatric associations in order to partner for advocacy. I am interested in developing educational and advocacy opportunities on the collaborative care model as a potential solution to mental health care shortages faced by much of our region. I am motivated to work with Region 7 PsychSIGs and stakeholders to identify relevant issues in psychiatry and medical education and their solutions.
It would be an honor to use my abilities and experiences in service of Region 7 and PsychSIGN. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best wishes,
Paris Beauregard, OMS-II
Priscilla Jones (video)
During my year as president of COMP-NW PsychSIGN, I found my passion for mental health education and de-stigmatization. When I realized that other student organizations had similar goals, I began collaborating on projects and events including hosting four guest psychiatrists, a psychiatry residency panel, two DATA waiver trainings, a Narcan training, a Mental Health First Aid training, and discussions about physicians in recovery, the bioethics of psychedelic medicine, and the impact of climate change on mental health. As the president, I learned organization, collaboration, and humility, and built a network of mental health provider contacts.
Having a mental illness has taught me that when doctors don’t understand their patient’s perspective, building a supportive relationship and finding the right treatment plan can be more difficult. Last week, my medical school hosted two individuals from NAMI with Bipolar to share their stories. Students that were previously scared of their psychiatry rotation began to open up during the session and ask insightful questions to our guest speakers. This experience showed me that medical students are open to learning more about mental illness if given the opportunity. I plan to collaborate with NAMI and other mental illness organizations to host individuals with lived experience to share their stories. Considering the amount of mental health treatment provided in primary care, I will also encourage the local chapters to invite other specialty clubs to these events so that all doctors, not just psychiatrists, know how to support people with a mental illness.
Becoming my local chapter’s president has given my education more purpose and direction. I would be honored to collaborate with local chapters to continue improving mental health de-stigmatization and education as the Region 7 chair.
International Region Chair
Vote for the International Region Chair here
Apoorva Polavarapu (video)
My name is Apoorva Polavarapu. I am a M3 Saint Georges University student in Grenada. I am currently in my clinical rotations in NJ, where I am originally from. I am passionate about entering psychiatry, especially Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
In my experience as an international medical student it is daunting to go to conferences where there is not much representation from my school. I went to AACAP 2022 Conference in Toronto and by putting myself “out there” I gained a wonderful network of people and joined AACAP Advocacy efforts. I am a medical student scribe for NJ Pediatric Psychiatry Collaborative Leadership Academy where psychiatrists and pediatricians come together to create a budget plan to present to state legislators to provide funding for mental health resources for children. We also encourage pediatrician referral to Child Psychiatrists. As an international medical student I feel like I also have a seat at the table and can contribute towards psychiatric advancements in my state!
International Regional Chair position is so important to IMG students as our support services are remote and our class is dispersed over numerous clinical sites. I acknowledge international students have unique stories, but as International Regional Chair I aim to uplift all of us to reach our goals in psychiatry because we need more psychiatrists to meet the demands of our mental health crisis! I want to host a wide array of networking events that address every student’s queries with psychiatry residents from different backgrounds sharing their J1 visa attainment, paths to residency, OET exam advice, subspecialty paths, and more. I want to share research position openings and host a virtual poster presentation. I am extremely approachable, resourceful and encourage people to reach out to me to create events that address your concerns!
Manal Mukhtar (video)
My name is Manal, and I’m a fourth-year medical student at St. George’s University in Grenada. I stem from a South Asian background, as I was born in Pakistan and moved to Canada when I was about three years old. Coming from a culture that tends to disregard mental illness, I am motivated to work towards being an advocate for those who do not seek help due to the stigma around it. Once I got to my third-year psychiatry rotation, it confirmed that psychiatry is the coolest field in healthcare. And that’s why, as the international chair for PsychSIGN, I want to work with members of the organization to showcase this fascinating field and be a helpful resource for aspiring psychiatrists.
To achieve this, I envision building a solid social media presence at our respective schools. This would allow us to host virtual events, like Instagram takeovers, of previous members or alumni that can give students and members a glimpse of their day-to-day activities and insight into their journey to success. Students can take advantage of these opportunities to find mentors, make connections, and get tips for findings additional resources, like research. Furthermore, we could post interesting developments in psychiatry (like advancements in interventional psychiatry). I would also like to have in-person events for students on campus, like wellness workshops or group yoga, to help students de-stress. Lastly, I hope to collaborate on seminars for international students doing psychiatry rotations in the United States. We would review tools like the mini-mental status exam, how to obtain a thorough history, and even hold a psychiatry shelf review with topics students struggle with (like pharmacology). This would help students excel in their clinical rotations.
I look forward to having a fantastic year with you all!
Thank you for taking the time to vote. Best of luck with the rest of your studies. We are very excited to work with you over this next year.