Art of Psychiatry

CAP Fellows visit Powell's Bookstore
CAP Fellows left to right, back row: Augusto Aliaga, MD, Adam Penrose, MD, Andy Stoner, MD, David Tay, MD, Program Coordinator, Elisa Ross front row: Janice Chung, MD, Zainab Fatima, MD, Tricia Liu, MD, Sameer Yousuf, MD and Cetin Sari, MD

The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program at OHSU encourages fellows to incorporate the humanities into their study and practice. This means reading literature, poetry, comics, watching TV shows and films, and discussing their interests with colleagues. This also involves co-reading or watching shows/movies that captivate the young people with whom they are privileged to work. Finally, many fellows—no matter their background—pursue creative outlets (drawing their own comics and writing creative pieces).

Portland has a vibrant art scene and the CAP Fellowship engages as much as possible with the city’s creative culture. Each year trainees enjoy coursework on somatic mindfulness, graphic medicine, cinema, story-telling and improvisation. Fellows take a yearly developmental book tour at a local bookstore, (the world's largest independent bookstore). We get together for “silent reading parties".  We have a film night and enjoy time discussing the human stories told that reflect what is common among people rather than what separates us.

A few of our visiting Child Psych Humanities and Arts Lecturers include:

Domeka Parker, is an actor, educator, activist, owner & artistic Director, Deep End Theater & Sound Improv in Portland, Oregon

Chell Parkins EdD, is the Director of Dance Education at the University of Wisconsin at Madison

Nicole J. Georges, is a writer, illustrator, podcaster & professor from Portland, Oregon. 

Drawing with youth over a virtual platform

PenCAP is a Quality Improvement project that Dr. Kim McKenna began her first year in the CAP Fellowship. This QI project offers a beneficial way to engage with youth using art as an engagement tool via telepsychiatry during the pandemic.  Dr. Kim McKenna and Dr. Craigan Usher presented their poster at ADDPRT in March 2022.

headshot drawing Dr. McKenna & Dr. Usher
Dr. Kim McKenna, Chief Fellow (2021) & Dr. Craigan Usher, Program Director

Check out our zoom drawing guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to draw over a virtual zoom platform.

Sharing Stories

Read Assistant Program Director, Dr. Mariah Racicot’s review of Hinemoa Elder’s Aroha: Māori Wisdom for a Contented Life Lived in Harmony with Our Planet. 

Read Great Circle Recovery Rotation Director, Dr. Anandam Hilde's analysis of The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner

Read former CAP fellow, Dr. Jeanette Johnson's Reimagining Charlotte’s Web as the Creative Experience of Play

Residents visit Powell's Bookstore on a CAP outing
PGY3 Psychiatry Residents rotate in CAP a visit to Powell's Bookstore, left to right front row to back row: Grace Kim, MD, Amandip Singh, MD, Damola Adedokun, MD, Program Director, Craigan Usher, MD, Daniel Oh, MD, Soham Gupta, MD, Rich Eboka, MD, and Brandon Chin, MD