A Day in the Life

Riken Nathu, MD
PGY-1

My background:

I grew up in the Orlando area in a city named Apopka. I’m a proud triple gator doing my undergraduate and medical school here as well!  

Why I chose UF:

I chose UF because I consider Gainesville my second home. Doing my undergraduate and medical school here I got accustomed to all the ‘small’ things Gainesville had to offer. It also meant I could stay relatively close to my family in Orlando and still get great training in residency. 

Typical day’s schedule:

My day to day schedule varies with the rotation I’m on, but the one thing that’s consistent is I make my morning coffee at my home coffee station. After work I try to either work out, play some basketball or cook something interesting.

How I spend my free time:

I watch a lot of NBA, especially the Phoenix Suns. I have a food page and being in Gainesville for 9+ years now, I’ve tried to eat at a new food place every week, so if anyone ever needs a recommendation, let me know! I also feel like I spend a lot of time with my co-residents either getting food, or just hanging out which is something I’m very grateful for. If anyone has questions about living in Gainesville or the program in general please feel free to email me! 


Christina Bulleit, DO

Christina Bulleit, DO
PGY-2

My background:

My name is Christina and I’m born and raised in St. Petersburg, FL. I loved growing up in Florida and plan to go back to St. Petersburg to practice psychiatry once I finish residency. I went to UF for undergrad (Go Gators!) and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Bradenton, FL for medical school. I had the opportunity in undergrad here at UF to work with the medical psychology department and absolutely loved it. Going into medical school I kept an open mind as I enjoyed all my rotations, but ultimately felt like psychiatry was my calling. Psychiatry always keeps me on my toes and I absolutely love this field. 

Why I chose UF:

I was able to rotate here during my fourth year of medical school and had the opportunity to see a wide variety of settings and patients. I saw patients in the outpatient clinic, the inpatient psychosis unit, on the Shands consult service and getting ECT. I really enjoyed the wide variety of patient pathology and various opportunities UF had to offer. I also met a lot of the residents during my rotation. Everyone was so friendly, kind and welcoming. All residents here are truly wonderful and I am so lucky I get to work with these fun, selfless and caring people every day!

Typical day’s schedule:

Typical days vary based on which rotation you are on. Currently I’m on the night shift at the UF psychiatric hospital, which is a second-year rotation. I work Sunday through Thursday night and have Friday and Saturday nights off as moonlighters cover the hospital. I get to the psych hospital between 5pm-7pm and start seeing new admissions as they come in. I also put in orders for things patients might need and handle any medical and psychiatric problems that arise overnight. There is usually some down time during nights where I can relax, snack and sneak a nap in the call room. Around 6am the day team residents start arriving. I sign out new patients to them and then I call it a night and head home to get some sleep.  I wake up around 3pm to squeeze in a workout before making dinner and then head back in for the night.

How I spend my free time:

I spend free time with my husband, Kyle, and dog, Hopper (named after the beloved character from Stranger Things, Jim Hopper). We like to visit our families in St. Petersburg, scuba dive, fish, boat, hang out with friends and my fellow residents, travel, go to breweries, play scrabble, and cheer on the Florida Gators whether it’s football, basketball, or baseball you can catch us rooting for the Gators!


Megan Single, MD

Megan Single, MD
PGY-3

My background:

My name is Megan and I’m a Southern girl at heart! I moved around quite a bit as a kid, so I never really had one place to call home. I was born in Georgia, moved to Kentucky when I was 5, and then moved to central Florida at the age of 10. I obtained my degree in Chemistry at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL, while balancing two full-time nannying jobs. I moved back to “My Old Kentucky Home” for medical school at the University of Kentucky, which is where I discovered my unexpected passion for psychiatry. I was one of those who was born to be a surgeon, or so I thought. My first rotation of third year, on the adolescent behavioral health unit, opened my eyes to the beautiful world of psychiatry. The more I reflected on myself and my experiences over the years, the more obvious it became that I was meant to become a psychiatrist all along. I am interested in both child & adolescent psychiatry and adult forensic psychiatry!

Why I chose UF:

During the interview season, I found it very frustrating when I would ask people how they ranked programs or chose the program they were at, and the answer was always the same, “I just had a feeling.” I’m here to tell you if you think it’s not that easy, you’re not alone! I had a really difficult time ranking my top programs and deciding which order to put them in; I debated on every little detail and discussed the pros and cons I can’t even tell you how many times. There were multiple places I fit in and thought I’d be happy, but I have to admit that no matter how much I went back and forth, there was indeed an unspoken feeling about one program, and that was the University of Florida. I have always tried to center my life around the concept of joy, and joy is exactly what I felt on interview day at UF…and in fact, I had a long deep conversation about joy with one of my interviewers! My interview experience at UF was by far the most unique, meaningful, and memorable of all and it was filled with special moments I will never forget. I was blown away by the sense of family I felt between faculty and residents, and how everyone seemed to genuinely care for each other. With my broad interests in psychiatry, UF offered all of the diverse experiences I was looking for, including rotations in child psychiatry, training in specific child therapies, experiences at the state psychiatric hospital caring for the severely mentally ill population, and of course a variety of other clinical experiences on inpatient units, consult teams, addictions, and clinic. I was also very impressed by the therapy experience that residents get during the third year, and how much the residents incorporated therapy into their daily practice. What trumped it all though was simply how happy the residents seemed, and how happy I could envision myself next to them. Two months in, I couldn’t be more thrilled that I chose the University of Florida Psychiatry and I am happier and filled with more joy than I have been in a very long time!

Typical day’s schedule:

The typical day definitely depends on the rotation you are on, but overall we have a great schedule. My intern year schedule allowed for a nice transition into residency and the perfect opportunity to get Step 3 of boards out of the way early! My first month was neurology at the VA, which I really enjoyed. I’d arrive around 8:00, pre-round on my patients, then we would round with the attending and spend the rest of the day putting in orders, calling consults, writing notes, and seeing new consults. The upper-level residents were extremely helpful, so I never felt alone in learning a new electronic medical record and “doctoring” for the first time. My second rotation was urgent care at the VA, which is basically a fast-track service within the emergency department where we see patients from about 8:30 until 4:30. While my attending was very supportive, he also gave me a nice amount of autonomy to build my confidence as a doctor, which was great as an intern! I am looking forward to my next few rotations, where I will finally get to delve into psychiatry during the day and come home from work to relax instead of studying for boards!

How I spend my free time:

I was lucky enough to meet a wonderful group of friends/co-interns during the first week of orientation who have made these first few months of residency a lot more fun! I spend most of my time outside of work hanging out with them, having game nights, discovering all of the delicious restaurants around town, and finding outdoor places to explore. I have started playing tennis since I moved to sunny Florida, so you’ll frequently find me volleying the ball back and forth with my friends after work, followed by jumping in the neighborhood pool to cool off! I’m looking forward to some day trips to the springs and beaches once the pandemic calms down!


Gabriel Jerkins, MD

Gabriel Jerkins, MD
PGY-4

My background:

I was born and raised in Vero Beach, Florida. I spent my childhood in Vero before coming to UF as an undergraduate and have stayed here ever since. I got my bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, attended medical school at UFCOM, and am now a PGY2 psychiatry resident here at UF.

​Why I chose UF:

Since I’ve been at UF since I was an undergraduate, I’m pretty familiar with the university and the Gainesville area. I have a lot of reasons for choosing UF- I like living in Gainesville a lot, I get along really well with the other residents here, and I’m not too far from my family in Vero. All that said, I think the main reason I chose UF was the strength of the faculty. As a medical student, I got to spend a lot of time with our attendings in the psych department, and I consistently found mentors and role-models in the doctors I worked with. At UF, I felt like I was surrounded by the kind of psychiatrist I wanted to become, and my time in residency so far has only solidified that feeling.​

Typical day’s schedule:

Although typical days vary from rotation to rotation, this month I’m working on the psychiatry consult service at the VA, which is a rotation we’ll usually spend at least a couple months on during our first and second years. Currently, I’m working with a PGY 1, PGY4, and a dedicated PA assigned to the VA psych consult service. Typically I get in around 8:00 AM, review patients in the hospital that I’ve been following (typically 2-4 depending on the census), pre-round and interview patients, and meet back in the consult room at 9:30 for rounds with the rest of the team. Round typically last 1-1.5 hours, with an emphasis on teaching by attending physicians Drs. Cheong and Martinez. Once rounds finish, I usually grab lunch spend the rest of the afternoon writing notes, and answering new consults as they come in, and am usually able to finish around up around 4-5 PM.​

How I spend my free time:​

Prior to the pandemic, I enjoyed spending time with members of both my program and in other residency programs here at UF, often making a point to meet up for trivia on Tuesdays after our afternoon didactics. COVID has certainly affected how I spend my free time, but recently I’ve been able to enjoy spending time with my girlfriend and our dog (Mr. Buttons), playing board games/computer games, watching movies, and of course, re-reading the DSM V cover to cover.