Page 27 - Jan_Feb_2023_Newsletter

Updates and Highlights from the San Mateo Psychiatry Residency Program

Ashley Shatola, MD PGY-3
Resident Councilor Co-Representatives, NCPS

The San Mateo County Psychiatry Residency recently had a change of program director. After exactly 10 years of
service to the program, Raziya Wang MD has moved on to do other things. She worked
diligently during her time to increase structural competency and strengthen our focus on DEI,
and continued to help the program provide strong training in psychopharmacology and
psychotherapy. She very successfully helped the program manage all the changes required
during the pandemic. She will be much missed. A new program director, Brendan Scherer MD,
was selected just before her departure, so he could learn from her as much as possible during a
short overlap. Dr. Scherer completed his training at the San Mateo Program and has been a
supervisor with the program for the last 18 years. He is very excited to take over this role, and
is looking forward to learning and teaching over the coming years.

While this transition was taking place, the wonderful crew of residents kept serving the community in their clinics
and working on their amazing projects.

Anna Madrigal, MD, PGY3 continued to refine her APA SAMHSA Minority Fellowship project which looks to
explore intergenerational trauma in the Latinx community of San Mateo county through the practice of scrapbook-
ing. She will be designing a multi-week scrapbooking program for families, with the focus on narrative medicine. Her
hope is to work with families to put together their family story in a shared scrapbook of photographs, mementos, and
drawings. This will help to amplify their story, bind their family history, and build a shared resilience to heal from
generational trauma. The goals of her project are to: (1) reduce the stigma of mental illness in the Latinx community,
(2) introduce the concept of intergenerational trauma, (3) promote and amplify patient stories and (4) advocate for
leadership of Latino psychiatrists and mental health providers in the community.

Additionally, in direct response to the recent act of violence and loss of multiple lives in the
Half Moon Bay farming community, she will be designing an additional scrapbooking group
in the coastal community that will allow families to grieve and build community strength.
By highlighting photographs and mementos from Half Moon Bay, the families may begin
their healing process and have continued pride in their community.

Both groups will be implemented in the Spring of 2023

Ashley Shatola, MD, PGY3,focused on her APA SAMHSA Minority Fellowship project
which addresses African American community-identified mental health needs. The initial
phase of her project involved speaking with community members and attending community health initiative meet-
ings to understand community mental health concerns. From there she focused her project on improving community

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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PSYCHIATRIC SOCIETY Page 27 January / February 2023