Discuss your general career path since graduating from UT.
After graduating from UT, I completed my doctorate in clinical psychology at Indiana State University. My dissertation focused on early identification of those at risk for schizophrenia using endophenotypes in a schizotypy population. I recently completed an internship at the Indianapolis Veterans’ Administration Medical Center (VAMC) working with Veterans with serious mental illness. I am now working at Indiana University School of Medicine as a clinical research specialist on a project focusing on early psychosis and stigma.
How did your BDP experience influence your career path and interests?
My BDP experience really focused on prevention of various physical and mental health issues. This shaped the way I view intervention, and how I conduct my research (e.g., early identification and intervention in serious mental illness) and clinical practice (e.g., my therapeutic approach to mental health treatment). My BDP also laid the foundation for me to consider things from numerous perspectives and work successfully on an interdisciplinary team.
What do you value most about your BDP experience?
I believe my Connecting Experiences were the most valuable part of my BDP experience. For example, I had the opportunity to complete an independent research project, which involved data collection, data analysis and presenting my findings at the BDP Poster Session. This helped me prepare for graduate school interviews and solidified my interest in research as a career.
In what ways did an interdisciplinary education prepare you for what you are currently doing?
Within the field of psychology, you are constantly working with people (e.g., psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, etc.) from different disciplines. I am often in team meetings with people from a range of backgrounds who have different goals and strengths. Participating in BDP helped me to begin to think about things from an interdisciplinary approach, which allows me to be thoughtful in my interactions with my team and value different perspectives.