Seo Ho (Michael) Song, MD, D. Phil, MBA, MSc
 

• Undergrad
  Dalhosie University
• Medical School
  Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

I started my academic journey as a neuroscientist even before medical school. As an undergraduate student, I explored the action of cytoskeletal proteins inside neurons as ‘brakes’ for neuroplasticity. Afterwards, in my postgraduate research, I identified the code used by sleep-regulatory neurons to record and signal an organism’s sleep history and drive.

During my medical training–from medical school and throughout my residency–, I was involved in the care of individuals whose mental health and sleep hygiene, or lack thereof, were intimately connected. This reinforced my clinical and scientific curiosity in the neural circuitry of mental states and cemented my choice for psychiatry.

At BIDMC, I am grateful for the exposure to meet and help individuals gain greater autonomy and agency over their mental wellbeing. Notably, I appreciate that my clinical duties stress the balance between the neuroscientific and humanistic aspects of psychiatric care. This was reinforced by the availability of protected research time and dedicated funding during PGY1 to seek research mentors and even establish the groundwork for a research project. In my case, this time was instrumental to lay the foundations and early prototyping for my clinical trial.

From a cultural perspective, I deeply appreciate the diversity rooted into our program’s core value. I enjoy interacting with co-residents and faculty whose combined life experience feeds a fountain of endless learning opportunities and camaraderie. Residency has also been a cornucopia of surprises, such as discovering that I sleep so restfully during night float (“fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony”)! And during all my highs and lows, my program has been present to support me. Thus, I am genuinely grateful and honored to be a member of our community.

In my journey as a physician, scientist, and humanist, I cannot think of a better place to continue my training. Please do not hesitate to reach for any questions!

Harini Suresh, MD
 

• Undergrad
  Vanderbilt University
• Medical School
  UT Southwestern School of Medicine

I grew up in Dallas as a musician and dancer, often straddling the realms of art and science. In college, I majored in oboe performance while pursuing a career in medicine. I found psychiatry to be the perfect amalgamation of art and medicine - understanding what motivates people and how the human mind produces each person's unique experience while studying the neurobiology correlates and psychopharmacology. I’ve always known I wanted to work with children and adolescents. Part of what drew me to BIDMC was that our institution in many ways serves as a hub for treating young adults from the numerous colleges and universities in and around Boston. During my PGY2 year, I rotated at the Boston Children's Hospital inpatient unit where I solidified my intent to be a child psychiatrist, having the opportunity to work with a diverse panel of patients alongside a strong interdisciplinary team. I also enjoyed working within the BIDMC Response to Risk for Psychosis Research program to develop a project which surveyed college mental health clinicians on their familiarity and practices identifying and referring youth at risk for psychosis before and after an educational intervention.

For my PGY3 electives, I will be working at the Boston Juvenile Court Clinic to gain insights into the complexities of the legal system and its impact on youth mental health. I'll also rotate at the BIDMC Aspire Clinic, a first-episode psychosis clinic, where I aim to broaden my understanding of the importance of early intervention and treatment for youth at risk for psychosis.

What I appreciate most about BIDMC Psychiatry is the community it fosters – my co-residents, the faculty, and program admins are kind, helpful, and always supportive. Outside of work, I enjoy playing pickleball with co-residents, hiking with my husband and dog, exploring Boston’s vibrant art scene, and organizing residency social gatherings.

MICHAEL TOM, MD
 

• Undergrad
  University of Calgary, Canada
• Medical School
  Harvard Medical School (HST Program)

Hi everyone! I’m a rising PGY4 and have been here longer as a medical student. I really appreciate the warm, down-to-earth culture, which made me want to stay for residency. I’ve also enjoyed the strong foundational training along with the flexibility and support to pursue my interests in community psychiatry, psychotherapy, and advocacy.

As a medical student, I did my psychiatry clerkship in the Mass Mental RAFT Program, which is a core rotation site in PGY2. I had the privilege of leading group and individual DBT sessions, and really resonated with the inherent creativity and flexibility of therapy along with the idea of meeting people as fellow humans. There were great mentors on the interdisciplinary team including the psychiatry attending, lead social worker, and BIDMC resident, who helped sparked my interests in community psychiatry and psychotherapy. I am now the inaugural resident in the new Community Psychiatry Track. This past year, I had rotations at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, the Mass Mental Young Adult Team, and the Dimock Center, which were amazing and diverse learning experiences. We also benefit from very strong psychotherapy training. I’ve appreciated the Program in Psychodynamics, with food and cases hosted by faculty, and will likely do a psychoanalytic therapy fellowship in PGY4 through the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. My interests also include spirituality and psychiatry.This year, I'm returning to the Mass Mental program as Chief Resident, hoping to inspire other residents and medical students to pursue community psychiatry!

I’ve also worked with other amazing residents to found and co-lead the Psychiatry Resident Advocacy Committee. Our activities have included lobbying state legislators to fund mental health initiatives, walking to raise money for suicide prevention, and leading a workshop for all program residents on lobbying and op-ed writing. I am the resident representative on our DEI committee, which is assessing our department and laying out a strategy for improvement. I'm excited to be an American Psychiatric Association Leadership Fellow and serve on the APA Practice Guidelines Committee. I've always felt extremely well supported in my multiple identities as an individual, psychiatrist-in-training, and leader. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Yelu Zhang, MD
 

• Undergrad
  McGill Unversity
• Medical School
  Boston University School of Medicine

Hello! My name is Yelu and I am a rising PGY4.

I studied anatomy and cell biology in undergrad while doing research in epigenetics and pediatric neuro-oncology. That's when I became interested in the human brain. In medical school, I initially considered a career in neuro-oncology or pediatrics, but was repeatedly drawn back to psychiatry and ultimately the specialty won me over.

During residency, I've developed an interest in neuropsychiatry and am curious to understand the neurobiologic underpinnings of psychiatric presentations. For the past year I've had the wonderful opportunity to work in the neuropsychiatry clinic embedded within BIDMC's cognitive neurology unit, where I was able to further my knowledge in areas including neuroanatomy, neuroimaging, pharmacology, and neuromodulation,and also developed as a competent outpatient psychiatrist. Aside from neuropsychiatry, I am interested in emergency psychiatry, including its fast-paced environment and diverse patient presentations.

I also enjoy teaching and curriculum design, and had wonderful opportunities to work with faculty mentors on a variety of clinical neuroscience teaching projects. For the upcoming year, I am really excited to continue spending time at BIDMC's neuropsychiatry clinic, and I will also be working on a project to develop novel neuroscience teaching curriculums for psychiatry residents.

In addition to having the opportunity to further my interests, residency at BIDMC has also provided excellent, well-rounded training, including both strong psychotherapy and psychopharmacology training, as well as a warm, welcoing training environment. Being a part of this residency program is truly a dream come true and I feel grateful to be surrounded by wonderful co-residents and supportive faculty members. I'm excited to keep on learning and growing while here.

Obi Ekekezie, MD 
 

• Undergrad
  Harvard University
• Medical School
  The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

I grew up in Kansas and graduated from Harvard University in 2012 with a degree in Statistics.

Prior to attending medical school at Brown University, I spent time in San Francisco working in management consulting as well as on developing a Bluetooth Low Energy-based social networking iPhone app that garnered attention from media as well as from venture capitalists. While in medical school, I continued to pursue my interest in technology and looked for ways in which technology might help solve problems in healthcare. I developed a text messaging-based blood glucose log and also explored using conversational agents to automate administering questionnaire-based screening tests.

Within psychiatry, my interests are fairly broad and currently include non-invasive brain stimulation, quality improvement, and digital psychiatry. During PGY2, we worked on a quality improvement project as a class over the course of the year that sought to help residents feel more comfortable managing restraints and seclusion on the inpatient psychiatric unit, and we presented it at grand rounds towards the end of the year. As part of our third year clinical selective experiences, I’ll be able to get exposure to both ECT and TMS. I’m also looking forward to having the opportunity to be mentored by a leader in digital psychiatry for my scholarly project.

In my free time—of which there is more of in the latter years of residency as might be expected—I like watching Premier League soccer (especially Arsenal FC matches), cooking, listening to podcasts, programming, finding new music, and keeping up with current events.

Update: After serving as the Chief Resident of the Inpatient Psychiatric Service at BIDMC in his PGY4 year, Dr. Ekekezie began a position at Cambridge Health Alliance as a staff psychiatrist in Primary Care Behavioral Health Integration and a Clinical Informaticist in 2023. 

Shane Fischbach, MD
 

• Undergrad
  Brown University
• Medical School
  The Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University

I came to medical school from the research lab, and one of the (many) appeals of psychiatry was the excitement around new discoveries related to the brain and the mind. During my PGY1 and PGY2 neurology rotations, I was moved by the extent of overlap between neurological and psychiatric illnesses. Based on my interests, the BIDMC Residency Program was able to facilitate PGY3 selective rotations for me during my PGY3 year. This gave me the opportunity to take care of patients with diverse neuropsychiatric illnesses in the cognitive neurology unit and granted me the flexibility to travel to Lahey Hospital in Burlington, MA, so that I could work with a national expert in the neuropsychiatry of Multiple Sclerosis. In addition to exposing me to new content and inspiring patients, these two electives introduced me to two attendings whom I consider among my most valued mentors.

Another part of the BIDMC experience I am grateful for is the rigor of our training and supervision in psychotherapy. It is a privilege to learn case formulation and practical therapeutic skills from outstanding supervisors in diverse modalities (CBT, ACT, DBT and psychodynamic therapy).

Lastly, what has stood out about this program is the extraordinary community it fosters. Even when residency is over, I know I will have a cohort of thoughtful colleagues to lean on for clinical questions and moral support.

Update: Following residency, Dr. Fischbach began a position as a Staff Psychiatrist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA.