The Perfect Storm!

Monday, November 9th, 2020 - Sunday, November 15th, 2020

I have been able to do more research on a field within psychiatry that I have been very interested in, sports psychiatry. To be honest, I didn't even know this existed until my interview with Dr. Uddin, where I asked him questions on it after seeing it on his profile on PscyhologyToday.com. This field is perfect for me because I have a love for sports and this gives me a way to stay close to sports and still focus on my interest in the brain and helping others. I am starting to realize just how much I can do with psychiatry and psychology in general and I am looking forward to doing more research on other things I can do within this field. There were some very thought-provoking questions that arose from my research into sports psychiatry as well. There can be a conflict between an athlete taking medication for a mental health issue and how that medication affects their performance. In my interview with Mr. Gopan Pillai, a nurse practitioner, this week, he emphasized the importance of understanding the patient and stepping into their own shoes and how therapy might impact them or their lives. Applying this in the scope of sports psychiatry makes it hard to assess what pathway to go when medication might affect the patient’s ability to play. Perhaps there would be another therapy that might work for the patient or would it just be up to them on whether they want to risk their career or their mental health?

Another thing I have been able to learn this week was the politics that can come with this industry. I was able to have the honor to talk with a psychiatric nurse practitioner, named Gopan Pillai, where we talked about numerous topics. One of those was on the limitations that can come as a nurse practitioner. Mr.Pillai told me about how despite having almost the same job as a psychiatrist, they are underappreciated because of their title as a nurse practitioner. I thought this was a very interesting perspective, as a psychiatrist can have up to 7 nurse practitioners working under them at once. If I do become a psychiatrist and decide to employ nurse practitioners, I will work to nurture the bond between these two and ensure that my nurse practitioners are appreciated and respected for the work they do.