The KU School of Medicine-Wichita Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship has been selected to be part of the exciting and prestigious Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation Medical Student Fellowship Program in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Only 16 total schools are currently in this program, and KU School of Medicine-Wichita was one of only two programs selected this year to join the ranks of schools like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, etc.

Four medical students with an interest in child psychiatry have been chosen as the medical student fellows this year. The students selected are all in their third year: Tayita Abudu, who will present at the 2025 Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation National Medical Student Conference on Jan. 25 in Boston; Namie Fotion, Anchitha Honnur and Maggie Ziegler. All students will be funded by Klingenstein to attend the conference.

The title of Abudu’s presentation is “Clinical Strategies and Challenges of Psychiatrists in Accra, Ghana.”  From Coffeyville, Kansas, she chose this topic because of her background living in a rural community.

“I witness firsthand the impacts of disparities in psychiatric care among children needing longitudinal care.”

Also, her parents are from Ghana for which she had “a yearning to educate myself regarding the psychiatric care that exists in the country.”

“This fellowship has opened so many opportunities for me,” said Abudu, “to learn more about the specialty I am most interested in. I have always been interested in mental health and the approaches to it through both medicine and public health, especially for this generation’s youth. I look forward to working with experts in this field and connecting with others who share the same goals!”

The students will be paired with a CAP faculty and CAP fellow mentor and from there will have an individualized mentorship experience which may include clinical experience, scholarly activity, research, etc.

“I feel incredibly honored to be chosen as a fellow for the KTGF-MSFP,” said Honnur from Leawood, Kansas. “I’m excited to continue cultivating my passion for psychiatry through the phenomenal mentors and experiences offered by this program. I plan to use this unique opportunity to expand my knowledge of psychiatry and hopefully become an exceptional physician one day.”

Ziegler, from Lawrence, said, “Being selected for this program is an incredible honor. As someone who is deeply passionate about child psychiatry, I am thrilled by the opportunity to engage with the mentorship and enriching experiences that the program offers. I am confident that it will play a pivotal role in shaping my growth and development as a future physician.”

Other opportunities available for the students include:

• Participation in KSKidsMAP TeleECHO virtual sessions focused on child and adolescent mental health in the primary care setting
• Attendance at the annual Paul Laybourne Symposium on CAP at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City
• Attendance at the annual KSKidsMap KANDID Workshop in Wichita focused on the treatment of children and adolescents with neurodevelopment disorders
• Increased match rate into general psychiatry residency programs
• Networking with other CAP fellowship programs
• Increased exposure to the field of child and adolescent psychiatry
• Recognition alongside other prestigious CAP fellowship programs on both the Klingenstein site and American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

“I absolutely loved the type of clinical and inpatient work I was a part of in the psychiatry rotation, and it quickly became a top contender for my specialty of choice,” said Fotion, from Redondo Beach, California. “Being accepted into Klingenstein to be a part of a community of psychiatrists and similarly interested students has provided me with opportunities to connect and learn from mentors, as well as continue to acquire exposure to parts of the field I have yet to discover. I am thrilled and honored to have been selected for KU School of Medicine-Wichita's first class of Klingenstein fellows, and I am looking forward to meeting the other fellows from across the nation at the upcoming conference in Boston!”