Psychiatry Boot Camp

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Mira Zein, clinical associate professor at Stanford and co-author of the APA Resource Document on Decisional Capacity Determinations, to break down one of the most frequent and misunderstood consults in psychiatry. We go deep into the Appelbaum–Grisso criteria and discuss how they apply to real-world cases where the answer isn’t always clear. Dr. Zein walks us through difficult scenarios, from life-saving refusals to medically complex delirium cases, highlig

When you think about core topics in consultation-liaison psychiatry, “supportive psychotherapy” probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But maybe it should be. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. John C. Markowitz, Columbia psychiatrist, researcher, and co-author of Supportive Psychotherapy: A Guide, to talk about the therapy that “gets no respect.” Dr. Markowitz explains how this deceptively simple approach, built on empathy, affect, and alliance, rivals more “sophisticated” trea

Organ transplantation isn’t just a medical miracle, it’s a psychological marathon. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Paula Zimbrean, Yale psychiatrist and pioneer in Transplant Psychiatry, about what really happens when mind and medicine intersect at the edge of life and death. We walk through the evolution of psychiatry’s role on transplant teams,  from risk gatekeeping to long-term integration, and explore what pre-transplant evaluations truly aim to uncover. Dr. Zimbrean shares how to assess r

In this episode, I talk with Dr. George Grossberg, a pioneer in geriatric psychiatry, about the neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia and what they look like, why they happen, and how to approach them with empathy and strategy. We walk through the most common behavioral disturbances in dementia, including apathy, depression, psychosis, and agitation. Dr. Grossberg shares how to think through these cases, when to reach for medication, when to hold back, and how to anchor every decision in an unde