Candidate Leadership

At the Center, the faculty view their trainees as colleagues – colleagues whose education is the leading mission of the Center. And so, trainees’ opinions, evaluations, and initiatives are not only welcomed but urged. In the past, psychoanalytic candidates have played an essential role in reshaping progression criteria, changing curricular requirements, and changing the teaching methods and materials used in classes, just to name a few recent developments.

In order to bring trainees’ voices into the educational and administrative policy-making processes at the Center, the following fora have been established.

The Candidates’ Organization

The Candidates’ Organization (CO) is a forum run by the psychoanalytic candidates in which all candidates are invited to meet and discuss the range of issues that arise throughout training. Discussions and candidates' requests for faculty/staff input are facilitated by the President(s) during monthly lunch meetings. The CO elects candidate representatives to the various Center committees who are then a voice for the candidates on issues of curriculum, selection, progression, and case-finding. The CO is also responsible for the selection and presentation of the Howard Klar Teacher of the Year Award at the Center's annual graduation ceremony.

For more information, contact:

• Rebecca Nejat, MD, Co-President
  • rebecca.nejat@gmail.com

Course Reviews With The Curriculum Feedback Representative

Each class meets twice yearly with a curriculum feedback representative, a faculty member on the Curriculum Committee who reviews the preceding semester’s courses in detail with the candidates. Curriculum feedback reps take candidate feedback directly to the Curriculum Committee, where it is used to improve candidates' learning experiences in specific and direct ways.

For more information about the curriculum, contact:

• Alison Brown PhD, Co-Chair, Curriculum Committee
  • ab2422@cumc.columbia.edu
• Natasha Chriss MD, Co-Chair, Curriculum Committee
  • nah2008@cumc.columbia.edu
• Bernadine Han MD, Co-Chair, Curriculum Committee

Candidate Committee Representatives

Much of the policy-making of the Center is done in several key committees. The input of candidates into the working of these committees is crucial and is another key way in which candidate voices shape the Center. Each class should choose one representative for each of the following committees, giving each committee at least four candidate members:

• Curriculum Committee
• Recruitment Committee