As an APA Foundation fellow for over four consecutive years, Dr. Faisal Kagadkar learned how to maximize the Annual Meeting experience. After completing his residency at Rutgers University School of Medicine, he began a child psychiatry fellowship at the University of Colorado, which he finished in June 2024 before starting a faculty role at Colorado. We sat down with Dr. Kagadkar to discuss what he learned after attending five APA Annual Meetings.
Q: Tell us about your experience as an APA Foundation fellow and how attending the Annual Meeting has benefitted your career development.
A: This is my fourth year; I did the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship first, and now I’m finishing up my Leadership fellowship. I get solid clinical training from my residency, but the APA Foundation fellowships have made me wonder: ‘What do I want from my career?’ The APAF fellowships have shown me the options to take your clinical impact to a broader systemic level and break down the systems that contribute to mental health inequities. Through these last four years, I’ve begun to consider and get more involved in mental health policy. This may sound cliche, but the APAF fellowships have been life-changing for me personally.
Q: How did you spend your time at the 2024 Annual Meeting?
A: It was a mix of things: a session on borderline personality disorder, the Leadership Fellowships meeting, the APA Foundation benefit. McLean Hospital in Boston hosts several networking events that I attended. And of course, I met friends and family in the neighborhood – reconnecting with old colleagues from Rutgers.
Q: What were some of your most memorable moments at Annual Meetings?
A: Ahead of the 2024 meeting, I reviewed the schedule. Having a lot of sessions in your plan can be helpful in case a session ends early and another one overlaps with it. I personally made a running note with the times and locations of each different event.
I enjoy the sessions, but I also try to build professional connections through networking. APA is a big organization with a lot of people, and whoever you see wearing a blue lanyard, stop and introduce yourself. I just met someone this morning while getting on the shuttle and we struck up a conversation about where they are in their training.
I also made sure to go to the APA Foundation benefit! Mr. Rawle (Andrews) and the whole foundation team are wonderful, and they take great care of the fellows. Being a fellow for so long, it’s been really nice to have the support from the staff.
Q: Has being an APA Foundation fellow changed your approach to increasing equitable access to mental health care? If so, how?
A: We are one of those disciplines within the field of medicine who actively engage in conversations with patients on the importance of community and the betterment of public health. My experience as a Fellow has helped me understand that it's not just being a robust clinician, but beyond that, how to take the mental health needs of the populations that we serve to the next level and keep pushing the needle for them.
Q: Tell us about your other APA involvement.
I was the inaugural guest fellow on the APAF Board of Directors. I also served on the Council on Children and Adolescents. The APAF Board of Directors and the APA Councils are comprised of experts and thought leaders from across the United States and beyond. I benefited from mentorship from these leaders, including Gabrielle Shapiro, M.D., Chair of the Council on Children and Adolescents.
As a Council member, you get to be a part of policy statements through the APA and understand different social justice initiatives. For example, I worked on a research document on the use of excessive force by law enforcement on children and adolescents. I wouldn’t have known I could be a part of that, but as a trainee on the Council, you have these opportunities given to you. Given my forensics interests, I’ve also been a part of the Council on Law and Psychiatry these past two years.
Q: What brings you joy outside of your career?
A: I have a 4.5-year-old son and a wife, and they are my absolute joy. I also like to bike. Living in Colorado, I’ve been getting more involved in biking, and I attempted the Denver Century last year. It starts in Denver and goes through some of the smaller mountains; it’s kind of like a marathon for biking, and I hope to try it again this year, too.