Dr. Kathleen Isaac: Mental Health and Medical Residents, Part 2

RUSK Insights on Rehabilitation Medicine

Dr. Kathleen Isaac is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor at NYU Langone Health. As a Haitian-American, cis-gender female, she directs the Medical Student and House Staff Mental Health program, which provides individual, couples, and group psychotherapy to medical students, residents, and fellows. She also has a part-time private practice focused on serving BIPOC and LGBTQ+ clients with integrative treatment approaches, where she specializes in trauma, health psychology, and cultural issues. Dr. Isaac also is an adjunct lecturer in the City College of New York’s doctoral program in clinical psychology where she teaches an advanced practicum on intersectional therapy and a Group Psychotherapy course. She has been featured on multiple media platforms, including NBC and the New York Times. Recently, she has published in the journal Psychiatry Annals and in a book chapter dealing with Her Clients’ Racial Identity Development During the Pandemic and the Black Lives Matter Movement.

The following items were discussed in Part 2: whether NYU offers any standardized screening to identify residents who may be struggling with mental health and burnout concerns; if NYU has a mentorship program for residents; kinds of differences that may occur in the types of pressures and challenges that may arise depending on the medical specialty; cultivating resilience to increase an ability to cope with various everyday pressures; and enhancing self-management skills in self-monitoring, recognizing, and reporting symptoms of any mental health problems.