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Craigan Usher initially pursued obstetrics and gynecology. “It was easy to get swept away by the clinical rotations,” sad Usher, a native of Oregon. “They were very exciting and flashy in a sense.”
Yet during his fourth year at Georgetown University’s Medical School, Usher ultimately decided to become a psychiatrist. “I kept having these moments with patients, when I would sit down and really listen to what they had to say,” said Usher. “And I realized that in those moments, we were talking about things that provided ultimate meaning not only for the patient but for myself as well. I felt that I could make a difference and really help people through psychiatry.”
The most senior of the three residents, Usher is now in his second year of the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program. Spending the first few months of his residency training in the Addiction and Recovery Program at Faulkner Hospital (FH), Usher then transitioned to Children’s Hospital Boston, where he gained his first exposure to psychotherapy on a daily basis. Now, after additional rotations in neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and general medicine at Caritas Carney Hospital, Usher is back at FH, working in Inpatient Psychiatry.
“Inpatient Psychiatry is probably the most comprehensive work I’ve done so far in that I serve as the primary therapist, working around patients’ needs both in terms of counseling and medications,” said Usher. “Psychiatry is ultimately about what makes a patient’s life better. And I truly feel as though I am making a difference.”