October 2024 Trainee spotlight
Supervisor: Srividya Iyer
Degree: PhD
Year of Study: 4th year (PhD5)
Program of Study: Mental Health (McGill University, Department of Psychiatry)
Why did you choose to come to the Douglas?
During my residency, I travelled to Montreal for a clinical and research internship at PEPP- Montreal, and I was inspired to witness how clinical and research teams could work harmoniously side by side and in close partnership with service users. I decided that this was the kind of research that I would like to be involved in. I met my current supervisor then, and was greatly inspired by her work, values and overall enthusiasm for doing research that is critical, innovative, and meaningful. I decided I would finish my residency and come back to build my research skills working with her and her team, the Youth Mental Health Collective.
What did you do before coming to the Douglas?
I worked as a medical doctor in Lisbon, Portugal, first as a psychiatry resident and later as a specialist.
Sell your research :
My research focuses on the exploration of social determinants of psychosis using different methodologies (quantitative, qualitative and arts-based), aiming to bring light to eco-social processes that impact peoples lives and may ultimately contribute to psychosis development. I am especially interested in understanding how societal factors impact first person experiences and life narratives differently across population groups, particularly among minoritized populations, and on how we can use this knowledge to build better societies and services for diverse communities.
What excites you most about your research?
The possibility of expanding the scope of my work to things that I could not reach in my work as a clinician, at the population and service levels, which impact greatly peoples’ lives and mental health. Being able to reach out to people and ask them about their perspectives and experiences and use my position to spread that knowledge without needing to frame their reports under diagnostic categories or problems. Overall, the possibility of reframing psychiatry, mental health and human behavior through a larger lens that focuses on more diversity, inclusivity, possibility and creativity.
If you could go back in time and give your “younger self” advice, what would you do differently?
The advice I would give to my younger self would be to engage more in interdisciplinary group work. You tend to be stuck in groups of people that think alike you quite easily.
Please share any additional experiences or advice that you’d like to share with prospective Douglas trainees.
I would say strive to deliver work that is critical and meaningful to you and avoid doing things just for the sake of producing something. Remind yourself often about why you are doing the kind of work you do, accept that you will sometimes lose time or make mistakes and that this is OK, you will learn from it. Think long-term and work with people that think differently from you and are not afraid to challenge you. Be curious and never assume you have (or should have) all answers yourself (no one does).