Hi there! It has been a WHILE since I last wrote a blog post! So much has gone on in the world and my life over the past couple of years. Can you believe I’ve entered my PGY4 year of psychiatry residency?!? There’s so much to catch you up on, but let’s start at the beginning.
Navigating the Pandemic as a Psychiatry Resident
It is so hard to wrap my head around the fact that we have been navigating a global pandemic for over two years. So much about our day to day lives have changed. On top of that, my life as a psychiatry resdient changed so much as well. I was an intern at the beginning and now I’m in my fourth year of residency (aka a PGY4). That alone should show the amount of change that has occured for me professionally.
In April 2020, I started off seeing patients on the internal medicine units. Fears about the transmision of COVID and the subsequent illnesses thereafter were at their peak. I soon transitioned back to psychiatry rotations where I found that patients were mentally sicker than even before. More than that, people who had never experienced mental illness were now seeking psychiatric care for the first time.
Legislative changes to help protect our physical wellbeing had large effects on our social, mental, emotional wellbeing. Accepting change has become a way of life, because if we don’t, we set ourselves up to experience additional suffering.
As much as I encouraged my patients to find ways to support their emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical wellbeing, I had to make sure I did the same. You’ve probably heard so much about healthcare provider burnout over the past few years. We went from being lauded as frontline heroes to being barely remembered as we continue to work through the challenges of the pandemic.
My break from social media and blogging has been essential to my sustained wellness. The mental, emotional, and spirutual growth that I have experienced over the past couple of years has been amazing. In fact, the growth was so great, that I met and married my purpose partner during that time!
Getting Married in the Pandemic
Funny enough, I entered 2021 prayerful that I would meet my future husband that year. I asked God to help me see what changes I needed to make to be aligned with the type of person I sought to marry. I am so happy to say that I found the most amazing guy for me! He has been the biggest supporter this past year, and I look forward to years of growth with him!
If you’d like to get the full details on this new phase of married life, be sure to check out my newest YouTube video below! My goal is to post new YouTube videos every two weeks. And make sure to subscrbe to my channel so that you don’t miss any of the upcoming videos!
Goals for my PGY4 Year of residency
Now that I am one month into my PGY4 year of residency, I can firmly say that post-residency planning and praying is underway. During my PGY3 year, I transitioned to the research track in my residency program, so that I could focus more on the research I have been doing to improve mental health knowledge in Black Christian communities. I will spend this year conducting studies about the usefulness of Mental Health First Aid and other mental health resources. Additioanlly, I will work in a child psychiatry clinic, an integrated care clinic, and see therapy patients throughtout PGY4 year.
I look forward to using this year to develop my research and clinical skills. I know that the plans God has for me in this journey are far greater than I can even imagine. He will continue to be my guide as I navigate PGY4 year and beyond.
Dr. Atasha Jordan is an Ivy League-trained psychiatry resident and businesswoman. Learn more about Dr. Jordan here. Feel free to say hello and subscribe to the newsletter for updates!