General Psychiatry Residency | Charles R.Drew University of Medicine and Science

About the Program

Charles R. Drew University’s General Psychiatry Residency program is committed to developing physicians prepared to practice in under-resourced settings. Our educational curriculum and clinical experiences emphasize relationships as the driver of healing—the relationship of the patient to their psychiatrist, to the health system in which healing is expected, to their own psyche and physical selves, to their families, and to their communities at large.

We situate trainees within a sociohistorical framework that addresses the biological, psychological, and social needs of our patients and challenge our trainees to read and be conversant in a wide range of psychiatric, philosophical, and social thought.

CDU residents embrace introspection and intellectual curiosity and are advocates for their patients and their profession, the cause of social justice, and the people of South Los Angeles.

Training in LACDMH

CDU psychiatry boasts a distributed clinical training system with rotation sites located in Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (DMH) Service Planning Area 6 (SPA 6). SPA 6 historically includes communities with large groups of people who are medically underserved such as Athens, Compton, Crenshaw, Florence, Hyde Park, Lynwood, Paramount, and Watts.

LACDMH is the largest public health department in the nation
The health system treats 250,000 people per year
The county’s budget is approximately $6 billion

Benefits of a Distributed Clinical System to Trainees

Our distributed clinical training environment offers the following significant advantages to residents:

Hands on experience with diverse patient populations
Exposure to a range of teaching professionals, concepts, and systems
Ample opportunities for leadership and to create change
Mentoring from community leaders, practitioners and nationally recognized health equity researchers
A deep understanding of how best to employ personal goals and interests in the future

Rotation Curriculum

PGY1 Required Rotations
CDU Community Health and Introduction to Specialty	Rancho Los Amigos: Adult Inpatient MedicineNeurology	Harbor UCLA Emergency PsychiatryAdult Inpatient Psychiatry
VA Long Beach Adult Inpatient Psychiatry	Kedren Community Mental Health Adult Inpatient Acute Psychiatry
PGY2 Required Rotations
Kedren Community Mental Health Adult Inpatient Acute Psychiatry	Harbor UCLA Emergency PsychiatryAdult Inpatient PsychiatryConsult and Liaison	UCLA Resnick Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program
VA Long Beach Adult Inpatient PsychiatryGeriatric PsychiatrySubstance Abuse
PGY3 and PGY4 Required Clinics
West Central Family Mental Health Center Continuity ClinicCo-Occurring Disorders ClinicPsychotherapy	Augustus F. Hawkins Mental Health Center Continuity ClinicCo-Occurring Disorders ClinicPsychotherapy
PGY3 and PGY4 Electives
Street Psychiatry	Women’s Re-Entry Program	HIV
Substance Abuse	Outpatient CAP	Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Primary Care Mental Health Integration	PTSD

Residents

Co-Chief Residents
Dr. Mariam Fam	Dr. Mohayed Mohayed
PGY1 Residents
Karina Diaz, MD	Jose Huergo, DO	Mirwais Mohammad, MD
Chika Nwachukwu, MD	Michael Panameno, MD	Madison Williams, MD
PGY2 Residents
Evan Bogdan, MD	Max Guan, DO	Samouel Hanna, MD
So Min Lim, DO	Maxwell Okunola, MD	Brooke Stroffolino, MD
PGY3 Residents
Jonathan Alaniz, MD	Yasmeen Elmelige, MD	Neelam Grewal, DO
Anum Iqbal, MD	Zhijia Liang, MD	Sarah Mohtadi, MD
AnnaLisa Wilson, MD
PGY4 Residents
Aaron Abraham, MD	Mariam Fam, MD	Mohayed Mohayed, MD
Victor Nnah, MD

Salary & Benefits

To learn more about the current salary levels please review the CIR (Committee of Interns and Residents) SEIU Healthcare Collective Bargaining Agreement. Click Here

Base Salary 24/25 YEAR

PGY1 $72,301.16
PGY2 $74,209.26
PGY3 $78,064.87
PGY4 $84,123.48

To learn more about CIR benefits for County-paid House staff, please visit the CDU CIR SEIU website

Base Perks

Meal Stipend +$6K
Housing Allowance+$10K
One Paid Conference Attendance During Training
CIR Education Fund +$1,100 (rollover)
PGY4 only: Chief Training Conference & Stipend
Rising PGY2 only: One-time Educational Bonus $2k

Other Wellbeing Offerings:

CPI – Nonviolent Crisis Prevention & Intervention Training
Annual retreat
Year-Round Chief Managed Wellness Programing
Department Activities

Application Information

To apply, submit:

ERAS Application
Medical/Osteopathic School Transcript
Dean’s Letter
Personal Statement
Curriculum Vitae
Three Letters of Recommendation
USLME Step 1 and Step 2 Transcript (or COMLEX Level I & II)
ECFMG Certification (if applicable)

For the three letters of recommendation: At least one letter needs to be from a faculty licensed in the specialty you are applying for who can comment directly on your clinical performance in that field. Letters from individual faculty members are preferred.

Application Deadline: October 30th

Applications are accepted only through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Interviews are conducted October through February. If you have further questions regarding our program, please reach out to us at PsychResAdmin@cdrewu.edu