Psychiatry Resident Voices

While we strive to prepare all of our residents for the next step of their careers, everyone has a different experience and has different takeaways on our program.

Some value the close camaraderie amongst residents. Some find the variety in training sites most helpful.

Here you'll find first-hand accounts from current and previous residents about their experience with the residency.

Valerie Jenkins, MD

PGY-4 Chief Resident

I have had a phenomenal experience training at University of Maryland/Sheppard Pratt.

As a PGY-4 getting closer to graduation, I feel confident and competent in practicing psychiatry in a variety of settings. I have enjoyed getting additional exposure and expertise in reproductive psychiatry and women's mental health during my fourth year of residency and am excited to continue to work with this specific patient population. Our program offers so many diverse training opportunities; you will be exposed to virtually every area and subspecialty within psychiatry during your time here. 

I have also made lifelong friendships with my co-residents and their significant others. We love spending time together outside of work, checking out new restaurants, happy hour spots, hiking or going on walks through Patterson Park. I appreciate how supportive my co-residents and faculty have been during residency.

Nisha Naik, MD

PGY-4 Chief Resident

I was looking for depth and breadth in clinical experience when applying to/ranking residency programs. As I near the end of my residency training, I can confidently say that this program met my expectations!

I'm happy to have matched here for that reason, but even more so for the chance to know some incredibly supportive co-residents and attendings. They inspire me with their compassion, dedication and thoughtfulness constantly! I work to show up for my peers and my patients in the best ways I can because they set such wonderful examples.

Ian Qian, MD

PGY-3 Resident

In the past three years of residency, I have lived many different lives—from helping people through mental health crises on the inpatient units, to jumping into someone’s most vulnerable near-death moments as a consultant to Shock Trauma, and now steadily building year-long relationships with my clinic patients within the therapeutic frame.

With all the fourth-year electives available, I’m excited to gain more specialized experiences. Will that be interventional, specific psychotherapies, different models of outpatient and residential practices, or something else?

Through this ebb and flow, enough life is left with the people I love. My wife and I still go on runs together weekly through the many beautiful neighborhoods and parks in Maryland. Family and friends scattered along the East Coast and Midwest are just a short drive or flight away. I have lived all my life in Maryland, and I am still finding new places to eat and new artists to see at local venues. Not to mention, I appreciate those moments of support from my co-residents and mentors between lectures, in luncheons, on our way out of the clinic, at happy hours and during psychoanalytic movie nights.

Caroline Quaglieri, MD

Class of 2024

I wanted to be a resident at UMMC/SEPH because of the great variety of training opportunities here.

It's not common to find rotations in state hospitals, private hospitals, academic hospitals, the VA system and community programs all within one psychiatry residency. Also, if you're considering pursuing a fellowship, there are so many excellent fellowships that are already well established and available here.

In addition, living in a city which is a travel hub, and easily accessible to Washington DC, NYC and other areas along the East Coast makes it an ideal central location for travel, both personally and professionally.

Isabelle Seto, MD

Class of 2023

Moving to Baltimore from out of state was simultaneously nerve-wracking and exciting, but I instantly felt at home with my co-residents. As a trainee, I appreciated the program's range of clinical sites, as well as the variety of electives available as a PGY-4.

The mentorship I found within the program is what ultimately led me to pursue fellowship and a part-time position at Maryland after I graduated.