Soumya Suvra Patra

I am a driven recent medical graduate with good educational record and a passion for healthcare and the practice of psychiatry. I have internship experience in diverse hospital settings, inpatient, outpatient and emergency. I have served as housestaff at the Department of Blood Bank at Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital. I have attained clinical experience in the United States of America in Psychiatry and Neurology for a total duration of 3 months under four board certified physicians. I have appeared for and passed both steps of USMLE on my 1st attempt and subsequently applied for residencies in the US for the 2024 session. I have organized and spoken at seminars and symposiums and remain one of the few students from my college to have participated in research work during my MBBS course. After my graduation, I have collaborated with teams across medical colleges to gain further research experience. Till date, I have three published works and four more that are in the process of publication. I joined an NGO in 2017 which aimed at raising public health awareness in the community. I took the initiative to generate said awareness among students from non-medical institutions by organizing seminars. I received the Covid warrior certificate from the West Bengal Government for humanitarian efforts during Covid-19 lockdown. I was involved in a variety of co-curricular activities including music and martial arts which have helped me build confidence and improve my social and organizational skills. I prefer a multifaceted approach to medicine and I have always strived to uphold the standards of health care to the best of my ability and shall continue to do so in the future. I try to be patient and dependable, especially in crisis or emergent situations and I believe I possess good interpersonal and leadership skills, which have been tested in academic and resource poor clinical settings alike. I hope that the challenges I’ve faced, am facing and will face shall only ever serve as impetus for self-improvement and lifelong learning.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY & WORK EXPERIENCE

US CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

1. 08/05/2023 to 04/06/2023: Virtual observership in Psychiatry (outpatient) under Dr. Juhi Nayeem, MD (independent contractor) at Baltimore, Maryland for 4 weeks.

This was an online rotation under Dr. Nayeem in Maryland, who has a private practice. This was my first exposure to the healthcare system in the United States. Above all, I learnt how to communicate with patients and try to build trust. My responsibilities included speaking to patients, mostly follow up patients, under supervision to get history, perform MSEs and participate in discussions relating to treatment. Participated in didactic discussions, prepared presentations on mood disorders and anxiety disorders for two such sessions. I received exposure to and observed the use of EMR system Valant.

1. 26/06/2023 to 23/07/2023: Virtual observership in Psychiatry (outpatient) under Dr. Sandeep Gaonkar, MD, President, Conventions Psychiatry and Counseling at Naperville, Illinois for 4 weeks.

This was a virtual rotation where I had to take histories and perform follow up of patients over the phone. I have observed performance of MSE, learnt about the indications of ECT, rTMS and use of newer drugs like esketamine, tasimelteon and daridorexant. I have also observed the use of EMR system, MedicsCloud. The preceptor would hold extensive didactic discussions on diagnosis, treatment and most importantly approach to a patient with a psychiatric illness. This experience allowed me to learn how to deconstruct a clinical picture into symptomatology and analyse the same to come up with a possible diagnosis. The art of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment can often be elusive, but, I learnt that a systematic approach can be crucial to solve the diagnostic dilemma. This rotation has helped me gain insight into the intricacy of management of psychiatric disorders and improved my knowledge significantly.

1. 28/08/2023 to 17/09/2023: In person rotation in Neuropsychiatry (outpatient) under Dr. Idan Sharon, MD in Psychiatry and Neurology in New York city for 3 weeks.

This was my third rotation and it was situated at an outpatient neuropsychiatry clinic under Dr. Sharon. My responsibilities included followup of patients, mostly over the phone but, in person in a few instances. Later, I was also tasked with intake of new patients with history taking and MSE for psychiatry patients and history and physical for neurology patients. I learnt to write follow up notes for neurology and psychiatry patients unsupervised and the use of EMR system, RCopia. I was exposed to a multitude of psychiatric diagnoses and observed performance of diagnostic tests, like EMG, EEG, VNG, transcranial doppler and carotid ultrasound. I took on more cases whenever I could. I learnt the most about interview and management of patients at this rotation and it has helped me become assertive as a physician.

1. 18/09/2023 to 02/10/2023: In person rotation in Psychiatry (outpatient & inpatient) under Dr. Nagy Kheir at Kare clinic and Stonecrest Center in Detroit, Michigan for 2 weeks.

This was my fourth rotation set in an outpatient setting with visits to an inpatient care facility. I was tasked with acquiring histories, performing MSEs and follow ups over the phone and in person. I observed a diverse range of patients in both outpatient and inpatient settings coupled with the effort on part of my preceptor, I tried to hone my skills as best as I could. This rotation brought me closer to communicating with and understanding patients. Although I visited the inpatient facility once, it left an indelible mark as it was my first experience with inpatient psychiatric care in the United States. Above all, I learnt that a little patience and compassion can go a long way towards interviewing patients well and taking histories, integral to the practice of psychiatry.

14/09/2022 – 13/03/2023

Housestaff, Department of Immunohaematology and Blood Transfusion 

Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata-700014, India

• Assess indications and urgency of patients requiring blood transfusions coupled with pre-transfusion testing including but not restricted to forward and reverse blood grouping, major and minor cross matching and Gel cross matching for select group of patients (e.g. thalassemia) and post transfusion follow-up.
• Participation in weekly blood donation camps, double bag and triple bag collections as Medical Officer in charge under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), West Bengal. Responsibilities include ruling out contraindications to blood donation, based on history and on site medical evaluation and management of complications, if any.

14/09/2021 – 13/09/2022

MBBS Intern, Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata-700014, India 

Worked in 12 departments and evaluated by the faculty physicians heading a unit of each department. Scored on 15 criteria scored on a scale of 0-5: 0 (poor), 1 (fair), 2 (below average), 3 (average), 4 (above average), 5 (excellent). Table of average scores received:

01/03/2021 – September 2021

Worked as Subject Matter Expert (Independent Contractor) at Chegg India Private Limited.

Resolving queries, writing descriptive answers and assignments (not part of coursework) in the following subjects:

• Anatomy and Physiology
• Genetics

Passed MBBS on 13/09/2022: Calcutta National Medical College, Kolkata-700014, India