Duke Psychiatry Residency A Look at the Residents
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[ Dr. Mankad Dr. Powell Dr. Peters Dr. Leinbach Dr. Lin ]

Juandalyn Peters
  • BSN, Barry University, 1990
  • MD, University of Miami, 1999

    "Working as a nurse with patients who had somatic complaints that were not being addressed made me want to focus on the engine -- that is, the mind portion of the mind-body connection."

    Why psychiatry?
    "I decided I wanted to do psychiatry when I was working as a nurse in oncology and orthopaedics in Miami Beach. So many people were coming in with psychiatry issues like depression as well as medical complaints. The doctors and nurses didn't have time to talk to the patients and address those issues while doing everything else. So I decided I would rather work with the engine -- that is, the mind portion of the mind-body connection."

    Why Duke?
    "We have a great department chair, and a very supportive, hands-on residency director. Research is an incredible strength here. The emphasis on evidence-based medicine is another excellent feature -- we're taught to make it a lifelong habit to search the literature for randomized control studies so that we'll select the most effective treatment."

    How chairman's rounds help residents "learn how to fish"
    "I'm on the second-year consult liaison service and have been making weekly chairman's rounds. I'm very impressed that he's so personally involved. He actually cares that we understand what's going on, that it's a real learning experience for us. He's down to earth and very non-threatening. He presents to us, we present to him, and of course he's already read it all, but he's very nice about it. And it's not as if he has nothing to do. So I sent him a note telling him thanks for teaching us how to fish, not just giving us the fish."

    On living in the friendly South
    "This area is a very friendly place to live. I'm originally from the Bahamas, and in the islands we say hi to everyone. In big cities, people get scared and hold their purses tighter. Here, people give you a smile and greet you back as if they know you. In general, people seem very helpful. For example, they'll return things you might have accidentally left behind. And if a storm's coming and I've left my window open, my neighbor tells me so."

    What she'll do afterwards
    "I'll go on to a two-year child psychiatry fellowship, and will probably end up practicing in an academic setting. I plan to do child psychiatry because I think there's a lot of hope for children. Childhood psychiatric illness is mostly about genetics and circumstances rather than choices. I don't believe that there are 'bad kids.' There's no point in condemning kids with problems -- you've got to treat them like people."