Elizabeth Pinsky , MD

My name is Elizabeth Pinsky, and I’m part of the MGH-McLean PGY-3 psychiatry residency class. I was at Columbia University for my undergrad and then attended Harvard Medical School, which means I’ve been at Mass General for over 8 years. Despite this I frequently get lost (it’s a massive hospital), but I can point you to the best bathrooms and the vending machine that sells Dove Bars (and Creamsicles, if that floats your boat).

I am part of the MGH-McLean child psychiatry track, but I completed two years of pediatric residency at Mass General Hospital for Children before joining the psychiatry program. With any luck I will be board certified in both pediatrics and child psychiatry and plan to work in pediatric palliative care and with children with chronic disease. I also have an interest in global mental health. I spent an extra year in medical school working in South Africa and Guatemala and am finding time for international work during residency, as well (more on that later).

I started off this year on our four-month-long community rotation. Every PGY-3 resident picks a site around Boston and works there one day a week providing community-based mental health care (the rest of the week is spent seeing outpatients). I picked the Revere Counseling Center. Revere is a city 15 minutes north of Boston with a large population of immigrants (as well as the oldest public beach in America and a lovely boardwalk).

The clinic I’m working at exclusively serves Cambodian patients; Massachusetts has the second-largest Cambodian community in the United States. We work on a bilingual, bicultural model, and patients are seen with Cambodian social workers. Most of my patients (as well as the clinic staff) were refugees from the Khmer Rouge. I am learning an astounding amount about refugee mental health, treatment of torture survivors, and PTSD. On a typical day I see patients from about 9 AM to 4 PM, and make at least one home visit (where I’m often fed homemade Cambodian food). The clinic, including residents, also participates in celebrations at the Buddhist temple. The largest is Cambodian New Year. Come hungry.

My experience at the Revere Counseling Center has fit well with my interest in global mental health, and I’m planning to travel to Cambodia later this fall to learn about systems of care and concepts of mental illness. The program allows residents to take up to four weeks to complete international electives during third or fourth year. I’ve definitely been encouraged to pursue international work, much as other residents are encouraged to take part in research or other pursuits.