WHAT IS THE PSYCHIATRY SUMMER IMMERSION PROGRAM?If you are a first year medical undergraduate student at a Canadian university and are considering a career in psychiatry, the Psychiatry Summer Immersion Program was created for you! The program provides an opportunity to explore the field of psychiatry and engage with psychiatrists and psychiatry residents through interactive sessions and clinical observership placements. The three-day program is held after the academic year end for first year medical students. The program is based in Vancouver, BC and includes distributed sites (Kelowna, Prince George, Victoria) where possible, depending on demand. Interactive sessions are video-conferenced to/from Vancouver and participating distributed sites. Clinical placements take place at various sites in Metro Vancouver and at participating sites throughout BC. For more information about the Psychiatry Summer Immersion Program, please contact Ms. Amit Natt at amit.natt@ubc.ca.
NEWS & UPDATESCelebrating the success of the 2022 Psychiatry Summer Immersion ProgramWe are thrilled by the success of the 2022 Psychiatry Summer Immersion Program. Eighteen Year 1 UBC medical students took part in half-day interactive career-focused sessions and half-day clinical shadowing experiences over the course of two impactful days in early June of this year. The interactive sessions allowed students to meaningfully engage with faculty and residents to learn about careers in psychiatry, including diverse subspecialties such as geriatric psychiatry, consultation liaison, academic psychiatry, military psychiatry, pain medicine and rural psychiatry. Having psychiatrists and residents share their advice, experiences, and decisions along their career path proved insightful for these students, who are faced with making their own career choices in the near future. Many students cited the variety of shadowing experiences as one of the most valuable experiences of the program. Students were matched with clinical faculty at hospitals and clinics in Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Surrey, and Victoria, as well as those providing virtual care. No two days were alike as they found themselves walking alongside clinicians working in addictions, adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, consultation liaison, emergency psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, and neuropsychiatry. “I found the combination of shadowing and talks very helpful. Having multiple learning methods helped keep my brain engaged and learning for the full day.” “It was very informative and I appreciated everyone’s willingness to be so candid and share their career journeys. I was inspired by the breadth and diversity of psychiatry. It opened my eyes up to a lot more possibilities for a rewarding career path! I highly recommend this to all first year students.” “I found the program very helpful for an inside look into a career in psychiatry and increased my interest in the field.”  Some of the 2022 Participants at the Vancouver site.
We extend our deep thanks and appreciation for the tremendous contributions of the following faculty, clinical faculty, and residents, without whom the Program would not have been possible.
We also extend our sincere thanks and acknowledge the valuable work of the program organizing committee members: Dr. Clare Beasley, Faculty Lead Amit Natt, Project Manager Polly Ng, Committee Member Jillian Rodger, Committee Member Alison Fong, Committee Member
For further insight into the diversity of careers in psychiatry, check out our podcast “The Right Psych” Podcast: The Right Psych ______________________________________________________________________________________ The applications are now closed for the 2022 Psychiatry Summer Immersion Program.The Psychiatry Summer Immersion Program will take place from June 6-7 2022. The application period for the 2022 Immersion Program is now closed. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Applications are now open for the 2022 Psychiatry Summer Immersion ProgramThe Department of Psychiatry at UBC is excited to announce that our third annual Psychiatry Summer Immersion Program will be held Monday – Tuesday, June 6-7, 2022. If you are a first year undergraduate medical student and are curious about or considering a career in psychiatry, this program is for you! This two-day program will provide an opportunity to explore career options in psychiatry and engage with psychiatrists and psychiatry residents through interactive sessions and clinical shadowing placements. The program will be based in Vancouver and will include distributed sites (Kelowna, Prince George, Victoria) where possible, depending on demand. The program has run for two years now, and each year student feedback has been positive with 100% of respondents rating the program as ‘extremely worthwhile’ or ‘very worthwhile.’ Please note the shadowing portion of the program is dependent on COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions. Online applications are now open from January 4 – 31, 2022. To apply or learn more about the program, please visit https://psychiatry.ubc.ca/education-programs/psip/. To apply, please click the 2022 Online Application Form ______________________________________________________________________________________ 2022 Psychiatry Summer Immersion ProgramThe Department of Psychiatry at UBC is excited to announce that our annual Psychiatry Summer Immersion Program will be held Monday – Tuesday, June 6-7, 2022. If you are a first year undergraduate medical student and are curious about or considering a career in psychiatry, this program is for you! This three-day program will provide an opportunity to explore career options in psychiatry and engage with psychiatrists and psychiatry residents through interactive talks and clinical shadowing placements. The program will be based in Vancouver and will include distributed sites (Kelowna, Prince George, Victoria) where possible, depending on demand. The program has run for two years now, and each year student feedback has been positive with 100% of respondents rating the program as ‘extremely worthwhile’ or ‘very worthwhile.’ Online applications will be open from January 4 – 31, 2022. To learn more about the program, please visit the program website at https://psychiatry.ubc.ca/education-programs/psip/ and read a Faculty of Medicine article about the program at https://www.med.ubc.ca/setting-the-stage-for-mental-health-care/.
Update on 2020 and 2021 Psychiatry Summer Immersion Programs
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Psychiatry Careers Night: Rather than our usual Immersion Program, PSIP went virtual with a Psychiatry Careers Night in 2020 and 2021. The Careers Nights were live panel discussions held via Zoom where students were provided with an opportunity to ask burning questions on what life is like as a psychiatrist. 2020: The event took place on June 11, 2020. Our thanks to panelists Dr. Marilyn Champagne, Dr. Kent Comeau, and Dr. Ethan Reiner (PGY3), and to host Keenan Klassen (Class of 2022). 2021: The event took place on June 10, 2021. Our thanks to panelists Dr. Colleen Northcott, Dr. Kent Comeau, and Dr. Ethan Reiner (PGY4), and to host Mirna Hennawy (Class of 2022). |
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Should you have any questions regarding future 2020 Careers Nights or The Right Psych podcast series, please contact Dr. Clare Beasley at clare.beasley@ubc.ca.
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Are you a medical student who is curious about a career in psychiatry? If so, tune into the podcast series
Perspectives on the 2019 Psychiatry Summer Immersion Program
“Great program!! Before I was undecided if I wanted to pursue [psychiatry] but now I have it as top 2 on my list. All the faculty, staff, and residents were so passionate.”
Comments such as this make running the Psychiatry Summer Immersion Program worthwhile. The second year of the Immersion Program took place from June 10-12, 2019 in Vancouver and at distributed sites in Victoria and Kelowna. Over the three days of the program, 20 Year 1 UBC medical undergraduate students engaged with faculty psychiatrists in a wide variety of subspecialties through half-day interactive talk sessions and half-day shadowing experiences.
Students listened to faculty share personal stories of how and why they chose psychiatry as a career, the particulars of their subspecialties, as well as hot topics like mindfulness, the future of hallucinogens as treatment, and cannabis in psychiatry. Shadowing proved a highlight for many. Each day, students were assigned to shadow different psychiatrists in a wide variety of subspecialties in diverse settings throughout BC.
“I didn’t know all of the different ways in which a person can practice psychiatry. Seeing the different subspecialties like sexual medicine and consultation liaison definitely opened my mind to areas of psychiatry I would be interested in.”
Students were also provided an opportunity to interact with psychiatry residents. Students not only learned about the residents’ own career paths to psychiatry, but also gained valuable insights and advice on their own medical education and training. As with our inaugural program last year, 100% of participants that responded rated the program as ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ worthwhile.
“I want to thank . . . the lecturers and those who offered shadowing opportunities for providing their time and fostering an interest in psychiatry. I had an amazing experience, and I wish more students in the future will be able to use this experience to help explore their interests in psychiatric medicine.”
All comments are anonymous and have been used with permission granted by students in the program evaluation survey.