The American Psychoanalytic Association takes pride in announcing the first group chosen for its psychiatric resident fellowship program. These fellowships have been established in order to maintain ongoing contact with departments of psychiatry, indicating our interest in a strong psychoanalytic presence in psychiatric education, and to provide an opportunity for outstanding psychiatric residents to develop their interest in psychoanalysis and to participate in activities of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
Fellows are selected by a subcommittee of the Committee on Medical and University Education after a review of application materials submitted by their training directors. Fellows will have their expenses paid to attend the winter meetings of the American Psychoanalytic Association. There they will participate in activities designed specifically for psychiatric residents and attend special breakfasts with analysts from around the country. Fellows will be provided a mentor analyst for their fellowship year who will be available to discuss with them their psychoanalytic interests and to assist them in having profitable and enjoyable experiences while attending the meetings. Each fellow will be awarded up to $1500 to defray the cost of attending the meetings. In additional, for this first year of the fellowship program, all those nominated, winners and non-winners alike, will receive a one-year subscription to the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association (courtesy of the Kanzer Fund), a one-year subscription to The American Psychoanalyst, and free registration at both the winter and the annual meetings.
In the programs inaugural year, thirty-seven completed applications were received. From what was an outstanding group of applicants, six winners have been selected:
Deborah Cabaniss from the Department of Psychiatry of The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Dr. Cabaniss, a summa cum laude graduate of Yale University and graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, has had an outstanding academic career and is a standout psychiatric resident at Columbia. She has a particular interest in the integration of psychodynamic and biological psychiatry. Dr. Cabaniss's mentor will be Aaron Esman of New York City.
Elyse Dubo, chief psychiatric resident in the Psychosocial Program of the Harvard University Program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. Dr. Dubo is a graduate with Great Distinction of McGill University in Montreal and of the McMaster University Medical School in Hamilton, Ontario. In addition to being an outstanding psychiatric resident, Dr. Dubo is an accomplished actress with extensive professional experience and is the winner of many awards and honors in various aspects of theatrical performance. Dr. Dubo's mentor will be Anna Wolff of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Robert Goldstein, senior psychiatric resident at New York Hospital—Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Goldstein, an undergraduate at Brown University and a medical graduate of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, has a special interest in the relationships among psychoanalytic thought, literary text, and history. Dr. Goldsteins mentor will be Robert Glick of New York City.
Jodi Lauren Halpern, senior resident in psychiatry at the University of California at Los Angeles. Dr. Halpern is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale University and a participant in the M.D./Ph.D. training program of the Yale School of Medicine and the Yale Graduate School. Her soon-to-be completed Ph.D. thesis centers on the concept of detached concern in physician/patient relationships. Her mentor will be Richard Fox of Los Angeles.
Debra F. Kirsch, departmental chief resident in the Department of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine. A summa cum laude graduate of Rice University, she attended the Baylor College of Medicine, having won many awards during her academic career. Dr. Kirsch has a special interest in social issues of importance to psychiatry. Her mentor will be Arthur Farley of Houston.
Laura Prager, a child psychiatry fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She is a cum laude graduate of Harvard College and of the Boston University School of Medicine, where she won the David R. Iverson Award for excellence in psychiatry. Dr. Prager has special interests in the areas of somatic presentations of psychiatric illness and the roles of transitional objects and phenomena in child development. Dr. Prager's first child was born in July of this year. Her mentor will be Howard Levine of Brookline, Massachusetts.
Response to the first fellowship offering was exciting and encouraging. The selection committee had a difficult time choosing the six winners from among the many outstanding applicants. The task should be somewhat easier next year, as the Executive Committee of The American has agreed to increase to ten the number of fellowships offered. Brochures describing the program and outlining application procedures are currently being sent to the chairpersons and directors of training of all psychiatry residencies in the United States. Completed applications are due by March 1, 1992, and selection will be made at the May 1992 meetings in Washington, D.C.