New fellows begin a year of subspecialty education, Part II
On July 1, 2021, the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences welcomed its latest group of fellows who are continuing their post-graduate education. This is the second in a series of two articles in which we proudly introduce them and their subspecialties.
Forensic Psychiatry
The University of Minnesota Fellowship Training Program in Forensic Psychiatry is a 12-month, full-time program focused on developing the skills, knowledge, and attitudes leading to proficiency in providing psychiatric expertise in legal matters, and understanding systems issues involved in mental health care delivery to forensic populations, and the legal regulation of practicing psychiatry. Our fellows are:
Amos Burks, MD, MBA
Dr. Burks completed his psychiatry residency at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and Griffin Memorial Hospital (Oklahoma State Hospital), and the Children’s Recovery Center in Norman, OK; and at the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita, OK.
He earned his MD at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in St. Kitts, and his MBA in Health Care Management at Columbia Southern University in Orange Beach, AL. Dr. Burks completed his undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
Dr. Burks built his research skills during a Nutrition Research Fellowship through the University of Missouri’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.
Laura Sloan, MD
Dr. Sloan earned a BS in biology and art history from Tufts University in Medford, MA; and her MD from the Tufts University Medical School in Boston, where she won first prize in the Dr. Harold Williams Research Fellowship Poster Competition. She will wrap up her psychiatry residency at the U of M in late summer 2021.
Dr. Sloan completed a Public Psychiatry Fellowship through the American Psychiatric Association, a two-year program for residents and fellows who will be future leaders in public psychiatry. She also participated in the year-long Resident Leadership Academy at the U.
Dr. Sloan is the U’s resident representative in the Minnesota Psychiatric Society and Resident Leader for Advocacy and Leadership Programming for her residency program at the U. She is one of six psychiatry residents chosen nationally to participate in the Rappeport Fellowship of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law designed to help participants develop their forensic psychiatry knowledge and skills.
She built her research skills on two projects at Tufts and was co-author on four journal articles (first author for two). Dr. Sloan has also given numerous presentations and made poster presentations during medical meetings and conferences.
Dr. Sloan is part of a workgroup consisting of American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APA) staff, APA psychiatrists, and other APA public psychiatry fellows who are developing programming for the Stepping Up initiative that looks to decriminalize severe mental illness in jails, and the Judges Psychiatrists Leadership Initiative that seeks to educate judges and psychiatrist to ultimately divert individuals with mental illness from the criminal justice system. She has actively participated in several events designed to education the public about mental health and addiction and has volunteered for numerous organizations.
Geriatric Psychiatry (based at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System)
The geropsychiatry fellowship emphasizes building expertise in diagnosis and treatment, integration with geriatric medicine, and use of a multidisciplinary team approach to care. Geriatric psychiatrists work at the mind-body intersection using somatic, individual, and social interventions to treat illness, relieve suffering, and enhance function. Our fellows are:
Jaclyn Lindsey, MD
Dr. Lindsey earned a BS in biology from University of Minnesota, Duluth, and her MD from the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando. She completed her psychiatric residency at the Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education in Rochester, MN. Since 2019, she served as a supplemental psychiatrist for the Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea, MN. Dr. Lindsey is a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi through the University of Minnesota Duluth. She was part of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry Honors Scholars Program and won the Mayo Clinic Department of Psychiatry and Psychology Neva M. Petersen Award. Dr. Lindsey has published articles in medical journals and has made presentations during medical meetings.
Kristin Thompson, DO
Dr. Thompson completed her BS in biology at the U of M and her DO at the Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Parker, CO, where she was on the Global Medicine Honors Track. Her general adult psychiatry residency was completed at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. Dr. Thompson also completed an Adult Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Training Fellowship through the Psychoanalytic Association of New York University in Manhattan. She was a 2020 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry Honors Scholar.
She has made several medical mission trips to Central and South America and volunteered for a number of agencies and programs, including a New York City project called Don’t Walk By Rescue Alliance, an annual winter outreach to people surviving on the street. When she has some free time, Dr. Thompson enjoys anything related to the lake, she is an avid water-skier, and also like to downhill ski, hike, practice yoga, and listen to live dance music.
Neuromodulation Medicine
The main goal of this fellowship is to create an opportunity to develop the expertise necessary to evaluate and manage patients with neuromodulation-amenable disorders using specialized procedures and techniques. The fellow is:
Camille Merhi, MD
Dr. Merhi completed his psychiatry Residency at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) School of Medicine in Harlingen. He earned a BS in Medical Laboratory Sciences, and his MD at the University of Balamand – St. George Hospital University Medical Centre in Balamand, Lebanon.
He built his research skills during two years as a laboratory assistant for the Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of Balamand, and during a research elective at the UTRGV Institute of Neurosciences. Dr. Merhi’s most recent projects focused on the effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation on cognitive improvement and the identification of structural/functional networks that underlie deep brain stimulation targets.
When he has spare time, Dr. Merhi enjoys learning languages (he is fluent in English, Arabic, French, and Spanish), playing guitar, singing, body building, soccer, and basketball.
We anticipate that these fellows will accomplish great things while they are with us.
