Psychiatry Residency Scholarly Activity

Scholarly activity is an important component of your overall training experience, advancing your knowledge of basic research principles, including how research is conducted, evaluated, explained to patients, and applied to patient care.

A Longitudinal Scholarly Experience

All residents are expected to participate in a variety of scholarly activities aimed at enhancing their exposure to, and experience of, the four components of scholarship—Discovery (advancing knowledge), Integration (synthesizing knowledge), Application (applying existing knowledge), and Teaching (disseminating current medical knowledge).

Starting from PGY-1, all residents participate in the Scholarly Project/Research Seminar—discussing research methods, receiving advice on bringing their scholarly projects to fruition, and presenting their own research projects.

Our curriculum continues to support you in your scholarly endeavors by providing a variety of training experiences throughout your four years of residency:

  • During clinical rotations, such as case presentations with literature review, in-services, and supervision sessions
  • In didactic sessions, including Introduction to Evidence-based Psychiatry and Critical Readings in Psychiatry, as well as attending, and presenting at, Grand Rounds
  • Through your individual efforts, such as journal reading and online learning activities

Your scholarly activities culminate in a final scholarly project.

Final Scholarly Project

You are expected to develop and execute a scholarly project of significant scope to contribute to your learning, and to share your learning with the residency program and the department. You are allotted 10% of your working time on a weekly basis in PGY-3 and PGY-4 years to be used for scholarly activities and your final scholarly project.

Typical Types of Scholarly Projects

Empirical Research Projects

  • These projects involve design, execution, analysis and presentation of data.
  • This type of project could be used to collect new data or perform a secondary analysis of existing data.
  • Development of a protocol to be evaluated in terms of ethical principles by Baystate's Institutional Review Board (IRB) would likely be required.

Study of Studies

  • These types of studies aim to generate new knowledge and perspectives on existing published literature by integrating and evaluating multiple studies that investigate a particular topic.
  • There are two main types of these studies:
    • Critical literature review tends to be a more qualitative evaluation of existing literature (but potentially quantitative as well). It focuses on highlighting what is known and agreed upon about a particular topic, as well as clarifying what is not known and gaps in knowledge. Systematic methodological and results reviews are generally performed in these kinds of projects.
    • Meta-analyses are quantitative in nature and aim to evaluate the quality and consistency of studies using similar methodologies to evaluate similar questions.

Choosing a Mentor

You will find skilled and supportive mentors for scholarly projects among the Department of Psychiatry faculty.

Many of our faculty are principal or co-investigators on research grants in such diverse areas as renal palliative care, treatment of adolescent depression, access to psychiatric care, medical education, alcohol withdrawal, ADHD, motivational interviewing and mindfulness. Take a look at our departmental publications.

Suggested Time Line

PGY-2

  • Define an area of interest for your final project and discuss with Program Director.
  • Identify faculty mentor(s)
  • Submit proposal for allotted scholarly activity time in PGY-3 to residency faculty for review.
  • Revise as needed based on faculty feedback and finalize scholarly activity proposal

PGY-3

  • Complete initial literature review for project
  • Meet regularly with faculty mentor(s) to support and guide completion of project
  • Complete PGY-3 deliverable:
    • For empirical research project, complete IRB protocol submission or grant application
    • For study of studies, submit abstract proposal for regional or national meeting
  • Complete proposal for use of scholarly activity time in PGY-4

PGY-4 and Transferring PGY-3

  • Submit final project manuscript for review by residency faculty
  • Revise as needed based on faculty feedback and finalize manuscript
  • Present your completed project in Resident Grand Rounds at the end of the academic year
  • We encourage you to present your results at a national meeting and/or for publication.

Past Resident Scholarly Work

Recent Publications (not all listed below)

Mann A, Merideth F. Treating to Capacity: A Case of Mesenteric Ischemia Complicated by Psychotic Depression. J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry. 2025 May-Jun;66(3):266-267. doi: 10.1016/j.jaclp.2025.01.003. Epub 2025 Jan 23. PMID: 39863108.

Mazur S, Sharma JB. 2024. The Complex Role of Patient Trust in Oncology. Chapter 3: Medical Oversight and Public Trust of Medicine: Breaches of Trust. Springer Publishing.

Merideth F, Jabaily JB, Daunis D, Kontos N. C-L Case Conference: Explicit, Implicit, and Tacit Consultation Questions for a Patient With Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura and Agitation. J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry. 2024 Nov-Dec;65(6):562-569. doi: 10.1016/j.jaclp.2024.07.001. Epub 2024 Jul 14. PMID: 39004344.

Sarkar PR, Friedmann PD. Screening Adolescents for Substance Use: a Four-Step Approach for Trainees. Acad Psychiatry. 2023 Oct;47(5):550-555. doi: 10.1007/s40596-023-01848-9. Epub 2023 Sep 2. PMID: 37658957.

Sarkar PR, Mazur SL, DePergola PA 2nd, Kilpatrick WJ 3rd. Capacity, Revisited: A Case Report of a Patient With Guardianship Who Refuses Life-Prolonging Treatment. J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry. 2021 Jan-Feb;62(1):79-82. doi: 10.1016/j.psym.2020.10.007. Epub 2020 Oct 26. PMID: 33261830.

Ignaszewski, M, Ignaszewski MJ, Kohiltz P, “Lamotrigine-Associated Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis”. Am J Ther 2017 Jul/Aug: 24 (4) e493.

Eustache E, Gerbasi ME, Severe J, Fils-Aimé JR, Smith Fawzi MC, Raviola GJ, Darghouth S, Boyd K, Thérosmé T, Legha R, Pierre EL, Affricot E, Alcindor Y, Grelotti DJ, Becker AE. Formative research on a teacher accompaniment model to promote youth mental health in Haiti: Relevance to mental health task-sharing in low-resource school settings. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2017 Jun;63(4):314-324. doi: 10.1177/0020764017700173. Epub 2017 Apr 3. PMID: 28367718; PMCID: PMC5982582.

Eustache E, Gerbasi ME, Smith Fawzi MC, Fils-Aimé JR, Severe J, Raviola GJ, Legha R, Darghouth S, Grelotti DJ, Thérosmé T, Pierre EL, Affricot E, Alcindor Y, Becker AE. High burden of mental illness and low utilization of care among school-going youth in Central Haiti: A window into the youth mental health treatment gap in a low-income country. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2017 May;63(3):261-274. doi: 10.1177/0020764017700174. Epub 2017 Apr 3. PMID: 28367719; PMCID: PMC5967385.

Eustache E, Gerbasi ME, Smith Fawzi MC, Fils-Aimé JR, Severe J, Raviola GJ, Legha R, Darghouth S, Grelotti DJ, Thérosmé T, Pierre EL, Affricot E, Alcindor Y, Stack MB, Becker AE. Mental health training for secondary school teachers in Haiti: a mixed methods, prospective, formative research study of feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness in knowledge acquisition. Glob Ment Health (Camb). 2017 Mar 6;4:e4. doi: 10.1017/gmh.2016.29. PMID: 28596905; PMCID: PMC5454794.

Al-Mohaissen MA, Ignaszewski MJ, Frohlich J, Ignaszweski AP; “Statin-Associated muscle adverse events: update for clinicians.” Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2016 Nov; 16(4);e406-15.

Recent Presentations at Conferences (not all listed below)

Sharma JB, Sarvet B. “Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: Supporting Psychological Safety.” Poster presentation, APA Annual Meeting, 2024, New York City, NY.

Mastalerz P, Sarmiento M, Mann A, Rowan B, and Bradshaw J. Denying Gravidity. Brief Oral Papers. ACLP Annual Meeting 2024. Merideth F, Sharma J, Valcheva S, Sarmiento M. Antipsychotic Use in Hospitalized Elders--A CL Service Quality Improvement Initiative. Brief Oral Paper. ACLP Annual Meeting 2024.

Mann A and Sundararaj D. From Counterculture to Clinical Culture: The Evolution of Psychedelic Misinformation and Its Clinical Implications. Poster. APA Annual Meeting 2025.

Baccari A and Sundararaj D. Traumatic Events and PTSD: Assessing the Incidence Rate of PTSD Amongst Psychiatry Trainees - A Review of Current Literature. Poster. APA Annual Meeting 2025.

Sarmiento M, Sundararaj D. “Ethical implications in assessment of a patient reporting sexual assault: A case report and discussion.” APA Annual Meeting 2024.

Kumar S, Sundararaj D. Trauma-Informed Approach to Psychiatric Sequalae of Firearm Injuries: A Case Report and Literature Review. ACLP Annual Meeting 2023

O’Sullivan M, Merideth F. What’s in a Name? Parkinson-Hyperpyrexia Syndrome in a Patient with Tardive Dyskinesia. ACLP Annual Meeting 2023

Sarmiento M, Sundararaj D. “Ethical implications in assessment of a patient reporting sexual assault: A case report and discussion.” ACLP Annual Meeting 2023.

Sanjana Kumar, MD, Deepika Sundararaj, MD. “Assessing Capacity in Individuals with Expressive Aphasia: A Case Report and Brief Literature Review”. ACLP Annual Meeting 2022.

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