Resident Physician Contributing Writer
University of California San Diego School of Medicine
Alison (Al) Cesarz is finishing her intern year in psychiatry at the University of California San Diego. Her clinical interests include early childhood trauma, the adolescent and young adult age group, mental health in the Latino population and psychotherapy. Another passion of hers is the mental health and well being of medical students and residents. She is open and accessible to sharing her own treatment journey, collaborating on methods for improvement, and working to break mental health stigma within the walls of medicine. In her free time, she enjoys reading fiction/nonfiction, writing, trail running, cooking and exploring the natural wonders of her new home city.
During my fourth year of medical school, I was completely unaware that I was suffering from clinical depression. Even now as I write this, I struggle to put my finger on how it all started. Was my appetite the first thing to go? Or the loss of enjoyment in socializing and sex? Maybe it was all three at once. It is truly too hard to tell.
Medical training and practice exposes us simultaneously to the beauty and tragedy of life. As a resident, you are thrown into a strange world in which death will often sit as an unwanted companion in the room with you and your patient.
Attending Physician Guest Writer
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Dr. Ronan is an associate professor of neurology and medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine and is the program director of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Neurology Residency.
Practical Wellness: Perspectives from a Program Director
A program director's perspectives on practical wellness in residency and how graduate medical education leadership can facilitate housestaff resiliency and self-advocacy.
