Career Chat: Dr. Jessica Isom on Non-Traditional Careers in Community Psychiatry

Register for the AACP 2026 Fall Un-Convention in Atlanta, GA here!Guest: Jessica Isom, MD, MPH  is a board-certified community psychiatrist, assistant clinical professor in the Yale Department of Psychiatry, and a nationally recognized expert in mental health equity and quality improvements. She earned her MD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also completed an MPH in public health leadership. Dedicated to addressing the impact of structural racism in health care, Dr. Isom’s work spans teaching, clinical practice, content development, organizational leadership and consultation through her company Vision for Equity LLC, empowering service providers to adopt equity-minded approaches that improve outcomes for racially marginalized populations. She is currently the lead editor for an APA publisher text under development entitled Embracing Racial Equity: A Clinical Guide for Psychiatrists.Host: Angela Liu, MD is a Columbia Public Psychiatry Fellow and Director of Communications at the American Association for Community Psychiatry. Editor: Daniel Carvallo Ruiz, MD is a resident in BronxCare Health System. All of his years of offering free mental health consultations to the most underserved Venezuelan populations, along with his work at Columbia Psychiatry/NYSPI, and his current position as a PGY-1 at the  BronxCare Health System Psychiatry Residency Program, have made him understand the critical importance and leadership role that community psychiatrists have for treating human beings in melting pots of pure diversity: an amalgamation of different races, genders, cultures, backgrounds, religions, beliefs, and ideals that converge into mental health disorders. His biggest desire is to become a leader in mental health advocacy, by using his skills in English, Spanish and ASL to help the most diverse communities and minorities, including those in forensic settings, that require immediate mental health attention, prevention, treatment, counseling and interdisciplinary support.Social Media Content Creator: Julia Kooser is a resident doctor who believes that addressing social drivers of health is imperative for maintaining psychological and mental health. During medical school, she was able to take part in initiatives to distribute naloxone to people within the community, and also took part in hosting voter registration events to mobilize individuals within the local community. Julia believes that when people have the ability to meet their basic needs, such as having access to housing and access to medical care and voting for individuals that represent their best interests, individuals are empowered to live happy and fulfilled lives. She feels that community psychiatry is the best vehicle for understanding these social drivers of health, and to enact change that makes the world more equitable and just. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guest speakers and are not representative of their employers or affiliated organizations.Created by the American Association for Community Psychiatry (AACP).Free AACP Membership for Medical Students, Residents, and Fellows | Instagram | Twitter | Listener Survey | Follow, review, and share!Credit Attribution: Stock Media provided by StockAudios / Pond5