Chris Kenedi

BA, Wesleyan University, 1993

MPH, University of Massachusets Amherst, 1998

MD, Medical College of Ohio, 2003

"The residency programs support the person as well as the physician."

Why med/psych?

Although I enjoyed all my rotations as a med student, I was particularly intrigued by psychiatry. Language is an awkward tool to use when you are trying to understand and interpret someone's pain and distress. The challenge of thinking about your body language, tone and word choice while trying to elicit information is tough but rewarding when is works. I also realized that my interest in infectious diseases stems from a fascination about human behavior and the choices we make. Mental illness, because it affects the very fabric of the person's identity and their perception of the world around them, can result in terrible choices with serious consequences, such as HIV infection.

Why Duke?

I felt it was a warm and supportive community set in an intense environment where people are driven to do the best for their patients. I wanted to be at a program that would help me to strive to be an excellent physician and where I would learn what I needed to be confident in my training and capabilities. I also like the culinary and cultural opportunities associated with the diverse population of the Triangle. Finally the ocean and the mountains are each a few hours away.

Why he would encourage others to choose Duke

The residency programs support the person as well as the physician. My wife had a child during internship and the program directors worked with me to change rotations so I could support my wife and be with my son as much as possible. Since then, they have checked in with me on a regular basis to make sure I was ok and that my family was ok. I firmly believe that their concern is genuine and that they would support me if I needed help. Residency is tough, especially at programs that emphasize inpatient medicine and intense learning experiences, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming or dehumanizing.

What he will do afterwards

During my third year I changed my primary care clinic to provide primary care to HIV patients. I am interested in becoming an HIV doctor, seeing some HIV patients for psychiatric issues and some HIV patients for their medical illness. I am also interested in international health and infectious encephalitis and I would like to work in SE Asia for a few years after residency - perhaps at the new medical school Duke is setting up in Singapore. When I return to the US I would envision working in an academic medical center as a teaching hospitalist/ genmed physician part of the year, engaging in clinical research or public health initiatives during the rest of the year while maintaining an outpatient HIV medicine clinic 1/2 day a week and a psychiatry clinic 1/2 day a week.

Joe Zanga
BA, University of Virginia, 1999
MD, University of North Carolina, 2004

"Duke has a great balance between medicine and psychiatry"

Why med/psych?

It was no surprise to me that during my third-year medical school clinical rotations, internal medicine and psychiatry were the fields that interested me most. Since before medical school, internal medicine had been appealing for the way it uses scientific knowledge to work through the complex puzzles most patients present. Psychiatry, in contrast, was to me the field in which clinicians actually listen to people discuss their lives as affected by fascinating mental disorders. During those third-year rotations, however, I began to see these two fields as complementary, not the near-opposites they at first seemed. Unfortunately, as it is practiced most places, there is generally a huge wall between internal medicine and psychiatry; as a consequence, there is a lot of mental illness on the medicine floors (and a lot of medical problems on the psychiatry wards) left untreated and often totally ignored. I quickly realized that I could do a lot more for these patients if, for me, this wall disappeared. Med/psych is my pathway to this goal.

Why Duke? / Why he'd encourage other students to choose Duke

This was a very difficult decision for a Tar Heel. Although there weren't many med/psych programs in existence when I applied, there were a number of very good programs. It was certainly a difficult decision, but in the end there were a few key reasons I thought Duke stood out. One, the people here are great. I spent a month on the GM12 (inpatient med/psych) service as a fourth-year medical student. Everybody I met, from residents and attendings in medicine and psychiatry to students, staff, and nurses, was friendly, knowledegable, and excited about being here. This translates into a great environment for working and learning. Two, Duke has a bunch of med/psych attendings. Having been through the program, they are invaluable as teachers, advisors, and advocates for med/psych residents. Three, the Triangle is a great place to live: very affordable, surprisingly cultured, and the weather's pretty good, too. Four, maybe most important, Duke has a great balance between medicine and psychiatry. Both are very strong on their own, ensuring a lot of good learning throughout the five years here.

Kristen Shirey
BS Denison University, 2001
MD Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health, 2005

"I look forward to being able to integrate my understanding of medicine and psychiatry to provide quality patient care."

Why med/psych?

I found out that med/psych programs existed early on in medical school while browsing the AMA website and was immediately fascinated. I entered my third year rotations with this in mind, and was struck by the number of patients on medical services with psychiatric illness and vice versa. These disciplines have traditionally been distinct despite the fact that many of our patients’ problems span both areas. I look forward to being able to integrate my understanding of medicine and psychiatry to provide quality patient care.

Why Duke?

I very much wanted rigorous training in both specialties, and was impressed by the strength of both the Internal Medicine and Psychiatry departments. The combined program is very well-supported and respected by both departments. Also, Duke has an impressive group of dually-trained faculty that serve as great teachers and mentors to our residency group.

Why she'd encourage others to choose Duke.

Some of the best advice I received on choosing a program was to really pay attention to the residents, as they would be my most important teachers. Duke residents are bright, energetic, and bring a passion to what they do that is inspiring. Working in this environment challenges me to keep learning and striving to become a better physician.

What she'll do afterwards.

I would love to stay in academic medicine doing some combination of teaching, patient care, and research.

Johnny Lee

BS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000
MD, University of Virginia, 2005

"I feel that the opportunities that will come with my med/psych training are endless."

Why med/psych?

Going into medical school, I had strong interests in pursuing a career in primary care. During my internal medicine rotation, I discovered that I really enjoyed taking care of patients' chronic and acute medical problems. More importantly, the possibility of establishing long-term relationships with clinic patients drew me to internal medicine. During my psychiatry clerkship, I was truly fascinated by the stories and complexity of patients with psychiatric and co-morbid medical problems. Fortuitously, I was able to work with professors who were dually trained in internal medicine and psychiatry. I observed how they were able to incorporate these interrelated fields into their practice, such as providing primary care for the mentally ill. From these experiences, I decided that med/psych was for me.

Why Duke?

Duke certainly has a reputation for providing excellent training in internal medicine and psychiatry. During my visit to Duke, I made a point of meeting residents who graduated from my medical school to get their perspective on what life really is like at Duke. Overwhelmingly, the residents expressed their satisfaction with the teaching they received from attendings and other residents, even when working on very busy services. Also, the variety of patients and clinical experiences available at the different training hospitals in both internal medicine and psychiatry made Duke the perfect choice for me.

Why I'd encourage others to choose Duke…
The med/psych program definitely has a strong presence at Duke and is well respected by both the internal medicine and psychiatry departments. Having mentors who are dually trained in internal medicine and psychiatry is a real plus, especially when working on the med/psych inpatient service. The med/psych residents spend time with each other not only at weekly med/psych conferences but also at social events, such as having dinner at a resident's house. Simply said, Duke is a wonderful place for learning and making new friends.

What I'll do afterwards…
I feel that the opportunities that will come with my med/psych training are endless. At this point in time, I'm strongly interested in providing primary care to patients at an academic institution where I could teach residents and medical students plus have the flexibility to conduct clinical research. Of course, only time will tell.

Jason Webb

BS, University of Portland, 2002

MD, University of Nevada, Reno, 2007

Why Duke?
I had the wonderful opportunity to rotate at Duke as a sub-intern on the inpatient med/psych service during my fourth year of medical school and it was during this rotation that I truly saw the great environment created at Duke for med/psych training. It was obvious that both departments were strengthened by the dual trained attending's, and it was clear that the med/psych physicians were leaders in each department as well. In addition, and more importantly, my interactions with the Duke med/psych residents, who were all intelligent, ambitious, and driven to provide excellent patient care, were wonderful. I felt at home with the Duke med/psych residents and it was obvious that a cohesion existed within the group. Also, the Duke program fostered any clinical interest the med/psych residents had in academic medicine, from infectious disease, to heme/onc and palliative care, to academic hospitalist medicine. I knew that training at Duke would offer me the opportunity to pursue any academic interest in medicine or psychiatry I desired, and would provide the foundation in both fields needed to tackle any clinical challenge at the interface of medicine and psychiatry.

Why Med/Psych?
It was during my clinical experiences on psychiatry and medicine rotations that I truly felt that I was "healing" my patients, and those experiences ultimately led me towards med/psych. As a student I was fascinated with mental illness and I loved the complexity of psychopathology. In addition, I truly enjoyed the intellectualism of internal medicine specifically the emphasis on physiology and pathology. It was these subjects that individually sparked my interests, but it was the fantastic benefit of many great mentors at the U. of Nevada, who really emphasized the importance of the interaction between medical and psychiatric illness on patient care, that brought a cohesive framework to the idea of med/psych. Finally, my sub-internship experience on GenMed 12 (inpatient med/psych) at Duke during my fourth year, solidified that academic med/psych was my passion and working with the Duke med/psych attending's directly, helped me realize the awesome clinical scope and healing impact that med/psych trained physicians can have on patient care and treatment outcomes.

Clinical Interests and Future Directions.
I have become fascinated with treating and healing our aging patients, and the unique skill set necessary to treat geriatric patients, specifically given their often complex medical issues, and comorbid mood and cognitive disorders. The field of geriatrics has thus become a large clinical interest of mine, and I hope to pursue sub-specialty training in geriatrics with the desire of providing inpatient geriatric med/psych care, and to hopefully teach medical students and residents in an academic medical setting as well.

David Karol

 

 

 

BS, University of Dayton, 2003

 

MD, MA, Case Western Reserve University, 2007

Why Duke?

I chose Duke for residency because of the tremendous opportunity to work with extremely talented faculty and residents. I did a sub-I on Gen Med 12 (the medicine and psychiatry inpatient service) and was struck by how committed the faculty were to patient care. I also was amazed at how knowledgeable and helpful the residents were, which is a testament to the strength of the education you recieve at Duke.

Why Med/Psych?
I chose med/psych because I have a vested interest in both disciplines. The interaction between medicine and psychiatry is ubiquitous, and the idea of gaining expertise in both fields fascinated me. Med/psych gives you a unique training, where you approach patients from multiple angles, and it allows you to expand your skills as a physician.

Clinical Interests and Future Directions.

After residency, I hope to use my med/psych training to work with underserved populations. I am particularly interested in the unmet primary care needs of the chronically mentally ill, whose psychiatric illnesses often complicate and overshadow their medical needs, which ultimately leads to increased mortality in this population. I also have an interest in correctional medicine and public health. I hope to pursue an MPH after residency, and I am considering doing a correctional medicine fellowship as well.