PsychEd: Educational Psychiatry Podcast

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This episode is the first in a new series that we call psychiatry case rounds, where we have attending psychiatrists on the show to chat about memorable cases from their careers. Our guest today is Dr. David Gratzer is a Toronto-based psychiatrist and physician.

Dr. Gratzer works at Sinai Health, where he is an attending psychiatrist, and serves Physician-in-Chief and Senior Medical Director of the Mental Health and Addiction Program. Previously, he was the Co-chief of Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems Division at CAMH, overseeing...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode provides an overview of psychotherapeutic modalities.

Hosts: Victoria Meng, Matt Cho, Kate Brathwaite

Audio editing: Kate Braithwaite

Resources:

For more detailed information on the different psychotherapeutic modalities discussed in the episode check out these other other PsychEd episodes at PsychEd Podcast 

Episode 2 on treatment for depression - PsychEd Episode 2: Treatment of Depression with Dr. Sidney Kennedy — PsychEd Podcast 

Episode 7 on treatment of GAD - PsychEd Episode 7: Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Dr...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers medical considerations in eating disorders.

Hosts: Dr. Shelly Palchick (PGY1) and Dr. Angad Singh (PGY3)

Audio Editing: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY3)

For more PsychEd, follow us on Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psyched.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PsychEd Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), X (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psychedpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Bluesky (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psychedpodcast.bsky.social‬⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). You can email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and visit our website at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ psychedpodcast.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This episode covers homelessness and mental illness with Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos, senior scientist with the General Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems Division at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She is also a full professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

She has served in several administrative roles, including vice-chair, clinical and innovation (2017-2022) and co-Director of the Division of Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems (2012-2017) in the Department of...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers the basics of CYP450 metabolism as it applies to psychotropic medication.

Hosts: Dr. Celine Prell (PGY4), Dr. Angad Singh, (PGY3)

Audio Editing: Dr. Celine Prell (PGY4), Dr. Angad Singh, (PGY3)

For more PsychEd, follow us on Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psyched.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PsychEd Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), X (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psychedpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Bluesky (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psychedpodcast.bsky.social‬⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). You can email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and visit our website at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ psychedpodcast.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Dr. Kenneth Fung and Dr. Iline Guan.

Dr. Kenneth Fung is Staff Psychiatrist at the Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network. He is Professor and Director of Global Mental Health with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. His research, teaching, and clinical interests include both cultural psychiatry and psychotherapy, especially ACT, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and mindfulness. He is the Block Co-coordinator of the Cultural Psychiatry Core Seminars for psychiatry residents...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers factitious disorder.

Hosts: Jo Kikukawa (MS3), Dr. Kate Braithwaite

Audio editing: Dr. Kate Braithwaite

References: 

1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5, text revision (DSM-5-TR). 5th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2022.

2. Irwin, M. R., Bursch, B., & Solomon, D. (2025, July 21). Factitious disorder imposed on self (Munchausen syndrome). UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/factitious-disorder-imposed-on-self-munchausen-syndrome?search=factitious+disorder&source=search_result&selectedTitle=1~90&usage_type=default&display_rank=1&s...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers the topic of grief with Dr. Cindy Grief, a Geriatric Psychiatrist at Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto, where she is the Medical Director for Mental Health Services. She is also an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and has played active roles in postgraduate and continuing education.

The learning objectives for this episode are as follows

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This episode covers cultural concepts of distress.

The learning objectives for this episode are as follows:

Define cultural concepts of distress and describe how they are framed in DSM-5

Differentiate cultural concepts of distress from psychiatric diagnoses

Appreciate the varied clinical takeaways from cultural concepts of distress

Hosts: Sara Abrahamson (MS3), Grant Yao (MS4), Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Audio editing: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

References:

1. Lewis-Fernández, R., & Kirmayer, L. J. (2019). C...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode is part of the PsychEd Book Club, a forum where we discuss books of interest to psychiatry learners from a variety of disciplines. We invite you to read along with us and contribute to our discussion.

This short introductory episode gives you a heads-up about our upcoming book club on How Can I Help? A Week in My Life as a Psychiatrist by David Goldbloom and Pier Bryden. Stay tuned for a longer episode in a few months where we’ll sh...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers the basics of extrapyramidal symptoms.

Hosts:

Jo Kikukawa (MS2)

Dr. Matthew Cho (PGY1)

Sena Gok (Scientist)

Audio Editing: Dr. Matthew Cho (PGY1)

References:

Dayalu, P., & Chou, K. L. (2008). Antipsychotic-induced extrapyramidal symptoms and their management. Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, 9(9), 1451–1462. https://doi.org/10.1517/14656566.9.9.1451

Drake, R. E., & Ehrlich, J. (1985).Suicide attempts associated with akathisia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142(4), 499–501. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.142.4.499

Pringsheim, T., Gardner, D., Addington, D., Mart...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers interventional psychiatry with Dr. Sean Nestor, an interventional psychiatrist and clinician-scientist at the University of Toronto, where he serves as Assistant Director of the Psychiatry Program and oversees the Clinician Researcher Track (CResT) residency within the Department of Psychiatry. His research program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre focuses on advancing the clinical application of neuromodulation therapies to improve outcomes across a wide range of psychiatric disorders.

The learning objectives for this episode are as follows

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers the basics of neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

Hosts: 

Eric Yu (MS3)

Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Dr. Shaoyuan Wang (PGY5)

Audio Editing: 

Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

References:

1. Park, J., Tan, J., Krzeminski, S., Hazeghazam, M., Bandlamuri, M., & Carlson, R. W. (2017). Malignant catatonia warrants early psychiatric‐critical care collaborative management: two cases and literature review. Case Reports in Critical Care, 2017(1), 1951965.

2. Simon, L. V., Hashmi, M. F...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers Working with Borderline Personality Disorder in the Emergency Department with Dr. Bruce Fage, a psychiatrist in Toronto working in emergency and acute care psychiatry, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. His interests include the relational and systems issues that shape psychiatric care in crisis settings. He is also a former founding member of PsychEd!

The learning objectives for this episode are as follows:

Explain how the emergency department environment influences presentations of borderline personality disorder<...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers the basics of serotonin syndrome.

Hosts: 

Eric Yu (MS3)

Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Dr. Shaoyuan Wang (PGY5)

Audio Editing: 

Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

References:

1. Boyer, E. W. (2024). Serotonin syndrome (serotonin toxicity). In UpToDate.

2. Buckley, N. A., Dawson, A. H., & Isbister, G. K. (2014). Serotonin syndrome. Bmj, 348.

3. Dunkley, E. J. C., Isbister, G. K., Sibbritt, D., Dawson, A. H., & Whyte, I. M. (2003). The Hunter Serotonin To...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This is our second book club episode centered around the novel Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health by Thomas Insel, MD.

This book is a part memoir / part manifesto written by one of our generation’s most important leaders in neuroscience and psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Insel. Dr. Insel served as the director of the NIMH for 13 years from 2002-2015. Healing is replete with his reflections on personal and clinical experiences as well as epidemiological data, research, and policies related to mental health. Dr...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers harm reduction principles.

Hosts: Dr. Andrew Nguyen, Dr. Zakia Hussain, and Shelly Palchik

Audio editing: Dr. Kate Braithwaite

Episode Evaluation: Dr. Angad Singh

Resources:

Chapter 4: Substance Use and Addictive Disorders. In Kaplan & Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences

Serving Clients Who Use Substances: A guide for community workers

A Harm Reduction Approach (Alberta Health Services)

References:

Alberta Health Services. A Harm Reduction Approach: Key Pr...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers psychiatry and ethics in the Ontario context with Dr. Suze Berkhout, a clinician investigator and practicing psychiatrist working in acute inpatient psychiatry at University Health Network. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto in the department of psychiatry and affiliate faculty with the Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science and Technology. Her research draws on critical creative methods in ethnography, art-science collaborations, and feminist science and technology studies, to consider the politics of diagnosis and social lives of...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers the basics of sleep hygiene.

Hosts: Jo Kikukawa (MS2) and Grant Yao (MS4)

Audio editing: Grant Yao

Timestamps:

(0:33) - Background

(2:07) - Core principles and strategies

(5:37) - Counselling on sleep

(6:18) - When to get help with sleep

(7:29) - Summary

References:

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers Types of Substances

Hosts: Sara Abrahamson, Shaoyuan Wang and Kate Braithwaite.

Audio Editing: Kate Braithwaite

References:

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5, text revision (DSM-5-TR). 5th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2022.

CAMH. (2013). Inhalants. Inhalants | CAMH

CAMH. (2010). Cocaine and Crack. https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/cocaine

CAMH. (2012). Amphetamines. https://www...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers the psychiatric case presentation with Dr. Justin Delwo, a staff psychiatrist at Toronto Western Hospital where he works in the emergency department and urgent care settings.

The learning objectives for this episode are as follows:

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers how to take a substance use history

Hosts: Dr. Andrew Nguyen, Dr. Zakia Hussain, Jo Kikukawa, and Dr. Kate Braithwaite.

Audio editing: Dr. Kate Braithwaite

Resources:

Chapter 4: Substance Use and Addictive Disorders. In Kaplan & Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences

Meta:Phi Resource Library

Ten Domains of De-escalation to Prevent Behavioural Emergencies (from Alberta Health Services)

References:

American Psychiatric Association Publishing. (2022). Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders. In Di...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers Functional Neurological Disorder with Dr. Patricia Rosebush. Dr. Rosebush is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University. She is the distinguished author of numerous articles on clinical neuroscience, including considerable work on mitochondrial disorders in mental illness and over 30 papers on catatonia, and practices consultation-liaison psychiatry at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.

The learning objectives for this episode are as follows:

Provide a definition and conceptual approach to FND

Identify clinical si...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This episode covers metabolic monitoring for patients on antipsychotic medications.

Hosts: Grant Yao (MS4) and Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Audio editing: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Timestamps:

(0:21) - Background

(2:22) - Monitoring for metabolic side effects

(6:16) - Managing metabolic side effects

(9:50) - Summary

References:

Agarwal, S. M., Stogios, N., Faulkner, G. E., & Hahn, M. (2023). Pharmacological interventions for the prevention of antipsychotic-induced weight gain in people with schizophrenia: A Cochrane systematic review...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode is part of the PsychEd Book Club, a forum where we discuss books of interest to psychiatry learners from a variety of disciplines. We invite you to read along with us and contribute to our discussion.

This short introductory episode gives you a heads-up about our upcoming book club on Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health by Thomas Insel. Stay tuned for a longer episode in a few months where we’ll share our thoughts on the book.

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This episode covers goals of care conversations.

Our guest for this episode is Dr. Tavis Apramian, a clinician-investigator in the Department of Family & Community Medicine (DFCM) at the University of Toronto and scientist in the Office of Education Scholarship. He works as a palliative care physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and at Kensington Hospice. His largely qualitative program of research is focused on advance care planning; workplace-based learning and assessment; palliative care in family medicine; medical assistance in dying; and inequity in end-of-life care. Hi...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers the basics of electroconvulsive therapy.

Hosts: Ravi Bhindi (CC3), Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Audio Editing: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Show Notes: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Time Stamps:

(0:36) - What is ECT?

(2:18) - Indications and efficacy

(4:35) - Treatment course

(4:32) - Combination treatment

(6:33) - Medications to discontinue

(8:16) - Contraindications

(9:40) - Side...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This episode covers exercise as a treatment for depression.

Our guest for this episode is Dr. Nicholas Fabiano, a third-year psychiatry resident at the University of Ottawa. His research focuses on the overlap between mental and physical health, particularly lifestyle measures that can be used to improve mental health, including exercise, diet, and sleep.

The learning objectives for this episode are as follows:

Understand the evidence supporting the antidepressant effects of exercise 

Explore the mechanisms underlying t...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers the mental status exam.

Hosts: Dr. Matthew Cho (PGY1) and Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Audio editing: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Episode Evaluation: Shelly Palchik (MS4)

Timestamps:

(0:20) Basics of the mental status exam

(2:05) Appearance

(4:00) Behaviour

(5:00) Cooperation

(6:20) Speech

(7:18) Emotions

(9:12) Perception

(10:15) Thought process

(12:35) Thought content

(13:28) Insight<...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers South Asian mental health with Dr. Farooq Naeem, a senior scientist with the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research and a psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. He is also a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Naeem pioneered techniques for culturally adapting CBT. These techniques have been used to adapt CBT in South Asia, North Africa, Middle East, Kenya and China. His research areas include CBT, psychosis, and culture, with an overall aim...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This short episode is about an approach to patients with psychotic symptoms.

Hosts: Ravi Bhindi (CC3), Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Audio editing: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Show notes: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)

Infographic: Dr. Kate Braithwaite

References:

Griswold, K. S., Del Regno, P. A., & Berger, R. C. (2015). Recognition and differential diagnosis of psychosis in primary care. American family physician, 91(12), 856-863.

Hua, L. L., Alderman, E. M., Chung, R. J., Grubb, L...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers catatonia with Dr. Patricia Rosebush. Dr. Rosebush is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University. She is the distinguished author of numerous articles on clinical neuroscience, including considerable work on mitochondrial disorders in mental illness and over 30 papers on catatonia, and practices consultation-liaison psychiatry at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.

The learning objectives for this episode are as follows:

By the end of this episode, the listener will be able to…

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This short episode is about counselling patients on antidepressant medications.

Hosts: Matthew Cho and Angad Singh

Audio editing: Angad Singh

Time stamps:

(02:03) Steps to antidepressant counselling

(07:31) Frequently asked questions about antidepressants

Related episodes:

PsychEd Episode 1: Diagnosis of Depression with Dr. Ilana Shawn

PsychEd Episode 2: Treatment of Depression with Dr. Sidney Kennedy

PsychEd Episode 58: Depression in Children and Adolescents with Dr. Darren Courtney

Patient education:

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This is our inaugural book club episode centred around the book Mind Fixers by Anne Harrington. Mind Fixers is by the Harvard historian Anne Harrington, and came out from Norton in 2022. It reframes the “biological turn” in later twentieth century psychiatry with a history of the discipline from the later nineteenth century forward. Harrington argues that the biological turn had relatively little to do with new scientific advances, and came instead from a need to separate psychiatry from the increasingly unpopular public image of the disc...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This primer covers the differential diagnosis of dementia.

Hosts: Dr. Alastair Morrison (PGY-1) and Dr. Angad Singh (PGY-1)

Audio editing by: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY-1)

Resources:

References:

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers ADHD in youth with Dr. Daniel Gorman, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a Staff Psychiatrist at The Hospital for Sick Children. Dr Gorman’s clinical and academic interests include ADHD, Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, child psychopharmacology, psychiatric education, and narrative medicine. He is highly involved in resident teaching and clinical supervision, and from 2014 to 2022 he was the Program Director for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry subspecialty program at the University of Toronto.

...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers psychotherapy in youth with Dr. Laurence Katz, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Katz received his medical and adult psychiatric training at the University of Manitoba and his child and adolescent psychiatry training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx N.Y. He is an adjunct scientist at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and has published numerous papers using the population health administrative database in mental health outcomes. He has held and been...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This is a special episode in a new series — the PsychEd Book Club, a forum where we'll introduce and discuss books of interest to psychiatry learners from a variety of disciplines, moving beyond epidemiology and clinical practice to look at science, history, culture, and more. We'll also invite you to read along and discuss with us as we read!

Our book club episodes will start with a short introductory episode (like this one) sharing the book title and why we picked it. A fe...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

This episode covers Introduction to Consultation Liaison Psychiatry with Dr. Raed Hawa and Dr. Alan Wai, both from the University of Toronto.

Dr. Raed Hawa is an esteemed CL psychiatrist and educator with interests in undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing medical education. He also practices general sleep medicine with particular clinical interest in insomnia, comorbid psychiatric and medical illnesses, and sleep-related movement disorders. He currently serves as the President of the Canadian Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and is a Professor in the Faculty of...

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.

In this episode, we discuss the practice of involuntary hospitalization (also referred to as involuntary commitment or certification) with two special guests and fellow podcast creators — Jesse Mangan and Dr. Jim McQuaid. Their podcast, Committable, focuses on the topic of involuntary commitment and features stories from people with lived experience as a window into complex conversations with attorneys, physicians, psychologists, and more. Jesse Mangan is the producer of Committable and someone who has experienced involuntary hospitalization. Dr. Jim McQuaid is an Associate Professor of Sociology at...