Sarah El Halabi, M.D., M.S.

Candidate for 2023 Resident-Fellow Member Trustee-Elect (RFMTE)

A Message from the Candidate

Biography

Dr. Sarah El Halabi is a second year Psychiatry resident at Westchester Medical Center in New York. Her interests lie in global mental health, cultural psychiatry, grief, and storytelling. She is passionate about education and loves to work with medical students and residents. As a result, her department awarded her the resident teaching award as an intern. As a second-year resident, she is creating a course on social determinants of health for the resident curriculum. She is also bringing Narrative Medicine to resident and medical student education to enable caregivers to voice their experience and feel recognized and valued.

Sarah received her MD from the American University of Beirut in 2018 and then went on to serve as the first postdoctoral Ethics and Professionalism fellow in the history of the institution. In that role, she participated in and helped moderate several ethics round tables and was co-instructor of the fourth-year medical student course whose focus was on refugee care. In addition, she participated in other scholarly activities such as writing, grand-rounds and teaching first year medical students Introduction to Ethics. After her fellowship, Sarah completed the Narrative Medicine master's program at Columbia University. She then joined the Narrative Medicine department as faculty associate before joining residency. During that time, she taught facilitation for the program and facilitated events for several local and international networks. At present, she is the fiction editor for John Hopkins’ journal of creative medical humanities, Tendon.

Sarah has served in several local and international networks and societies:

• Global Mental Health Think Tank: Collaborated with early career psychiatrists from different parts of the world to write, create projects and advocate for common causes such as disparities in psychiatric research.
• World Network of Psychiatric Trainees (WNPT): Served as coordinator and participant in several global virtual fora and organized a fundraiser to support mental health care in Lebanon.
• Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture (SSPC): Reviewed for their 43rd conference on Narrative and Cultural Psychiatry. Planning Committee member for the 43rd and 44th conference.
• International Federation of Medical Students (IFMSA): Participated in cultural exchanges and coordinated various local anti-stigma campaigns such as HIV anti-stigma campaign and mental health anti-stigma campaign through their Lebanese branch, LEMSIC.
• Lebanese Medical Student Association (LEMSIC): Elected as local coordinator and board member on the national medical student board during her second year at medical school. Duties included: organizing national and local events, managing funding, and advocating for peers.

Education

• Westchester Medical Center/New York Medical College (2021-present)
• Columbia University, Masters of Narrative Medicine (2019-2020)
• American University of Beirut, Doctor of Medicine (2014-2018)
• American University of Beirut, Bachelor of Biology, with honors (2011-2014)
• International School of Choueifat, Life Sciences Degree, with honors (2011)

Awards and Honors

• Resident Teaching Award, WMC, New York Medical College and Westchester Medical Center (2022)
• Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Scholarship (2021)
• Schwartz Center HealthCare Scholarship (2020)
• Alexander Chee Fiction Contest Semi-Finalist candidate (2020)
  • For Peach, a story about chronic illness and suicide
• Columbia Narrative Medicine Scholarship (2019)
  • For academic achievement and exemplary community service
• Best Presentation award, Obstetrics and Gynecology department at the American University of Beirut (2016)
  • For a presentation on Ethics and OBGYN
• Dean’s Honor List (2011-2014)