Drs. Maria Bernadett Carandang and Ananya Mahapatra envisage the formation of an Early Career Section committed to infusing innovation into traditions. Throughout their two-year tenure, they plan to craft a strategic blueprint designed to integrate sustainability within the section through research collaborations and the establishment of a learning consortium.
Dr. Maria Bernadett Carandang, MD, DSBPP, a psychiatrist from the Philippines, serves as a faculty member at La Consolacion University and holds the position of Assistant Residency Training Officer at Batangas Medical Center. Her research interests are centered around niche populations that have the potential to contribute towards societal wellbeing, with particular emphasis on fandoms. In addition, she has made significant contributions in the fields of occupational and transgender mental health.
Dr. Ananya Mahapatra, MD, a psychiatrist from India, is a member of the faculty at Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital & Medical College, New Delhi. Her research interests primarily encompass common mental disorders and adolescent mental health, with particular focus on their intersections with contemporary social issues. Moreover, she maintains a keen interest in exploring literature as an instrument for enhancing empathy and training individuals on socio-cultural elements pertinent to mental health.
The proposed Early Career section aims to solidify networks among emerging psychiatrists and facilitate collaborative research endeavors addressing social psychiatry issues from a spectrum of perspectives. Concurrently, the envisioned learning consortium aspires to assemble social psychiatrists of diverse backgrounds to evaluate and discuss current psychiatric challenges, as well as potential future advancements and breakthroughs in the field.
This bifocal approach, as envisioned by the Early Career Psychiatry (ECP) section, is geared towards decolonizing mental illness narratives, ensuring comprehensive representation and diversity, and nurturing an interconnected global community of young social psychiatrists.
Maria Bernadett Carandang mbcarandang.md@gmail.com
Ananya Mahapatra nnyaa09@gmail.com
