Burrell’s Psychiatry Club has been nationally recognized as a chapter of the Psychiatry Student Interest Group Network, PsychSIGN. As a result, the club has been renamed Burrell PsychSIG (Psychiatry Student Interest Group). Membership in PsychSIGN will open up networking opportunities and increase our psychiatry club’s awareness among both osteopathic and allopathic medical schools.
Burrell PsychSIG is a psychiatry interest group that intends to encourage student interest in the field of psychiatry, to foster networking between students with an interest in psychiatric medicine. Their mission is to create a network of connections between students, faculty, and medical professionals to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, promote the importance of mental health, and provide students with leadership and community outreach opportunities. While not every member of Burrell PsychSIG will pursue psychiatric residencies, they all recognize the value having a psychiatric medicine foundation can have on providing better care to patients.
This club was started initially as the Psych Cinema Club, and over time evolved into a broader psychiatry interest group. The biggest hurdle for the club gaining recognition under PsychSIGN was the development of their own club constitution, which is comprised of their personal mission, officer breakdown, and club processes. Once ratified, the club was officially recognized as the newest chapter of PsychSIGN. Burrell PsychSIG is under Region 7 of the national PsychSIGN registry, the jurisdiction in which New Mexico falls.
The club has been instrumental in several outreach and community service engagements in the community, including the production of flyers for the non-profit Protect NM, which provided PPE to local clinics and hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Burrell PsychSIG also completed training to become educators and support group leaders for the Alzheimer’s Association and participated in the 2020 Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
Now that Burrell PsychSIG has been nationally recognized, the club plans to have its future members attend the relevant conferences to expand their network and knowledge base. “The organization’s affiliation with the APA will allow students to connect with current psychiatric residents and physicians to obtain guidance as they embark upon their career in psychiatric medicine,” says current PsychSIG president, Stefanie Bennett.
PsychSIG is open to all Burrell medical students; you do not need to plan to pursue a psychiatry residency in order to join. There are no club fees or dues required to join. Anyone who is interested in joining can e-mail PsychSIG president Stefanie Bennett at Stefanie.bennett@mybcom.org
Founding Members:
- President – Stefanie Bennett
- Vice President – Bineetha Aluri
- Secretary – Haala Babar
- Treasurer – Annette Reyes
- Fundraising Chair – Naomi McLeod
- Community Outreach Chair – Derek Jezulin
Upcoming Board Members:
- President – Jessica Hoeschele
- Vice President – Cindy Rezk
- Secretary – Fay Tager
- National Liaison – Kathryn Hall
- Treasurer – Kathryn Wehrer
