Madeline Konsor
Madeline Konsor, M.S.
Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Candidate
Chair of SfHP Student Advisory Council
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
I am pleased to serve as Chair of the SfHP’s Student Advisory Council (SAC) for the 2020-2021 year! I am a fourth-year clinical psychology Ph.D. student at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago, Illinois. My clinical and research interests have largely focused on weight management, bariatric care, and eating behaviors. Like many others, I join the number of students who are applying for internship this year and am both anxious and excited for the coming months! I want to congratulate all of the other students applying this year and know that I share your anticipation for Match Day!
Impact of COVID-19
While it has been a challenging year to say the least, I am excited about the projects and resources we have lined up to best support our students. I am acutely aware that navigating a work-life balance in the midst of a pandemic is nearly impossible and I want this year to focus on providing all of our members with the support they need. Last spring, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, graduate students across the country were faced with challenges in the most unexpected ways. Upon hearing about some of these challenges, SAC distributed a survey asking how COVID-19 impacted the clinical training experiences of interns and postdocs across the nation. We received a range of responses, but expectedly noted that our student members were experiencing many challenges related to clinical training. The full report detailing the responses from this assessment can be found here. We recognize that graduate students broadly were and still are facing challenges not only related to academics, but their personal lives as well. This fall, we plan to distribute a similar survey to all graduate students in the division in the hopes of identifying further ways to support and provide our students with the resources they need now.
SAC Initiatives for the 2020-2021 Academic Year
As a division, we continue to stand up against racism and support efforts to create anti-racist resources. As part of our overarching goals for this year, SAC aims to continue the conversation about race in all aspects of our work, knowing that efforts made jointly will be most effective. We hope to increase our number of interdivisional collaborations and effectively use the resources we already have. In addition, we will continue to provide the programming historically disseminated by SAC. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Campus representatives program (virtual events this year)
- Monthly Diversity Blog post
- Annual Diversity Teleconference
- Student Spotlights
- Update the postdoc and job listings
- APA Programming events
As always, we are open and welcome to feedback, so please do not hesitate to reach out! The SAC Board has had a great start and we look forward to collaborating and hearing from you all in the coming year.
Sincerely,
Madeline Konsor
Presidential Trio – studentchairdiv38@gmail.com
Chair: Madeline Konsor, M.S.
Chair-elect: Nicole Arrato, M.A.
Past-chair: Jessica Naftaly, M.S.
Membership Committee Co-Chairs – studentmembershipdiv38@gmail.com
Jennifer Gittleman, B.A.
Noelle Mastrili, M.S.
Communications Committee Co-Chairs – studentcommunicationsdiv38@gmail.com
Olivia Zech, M.A.
Elise McKelvey, M.A.
Diversity Committee Co-Chairs – studentdiversitydiv38@gmail.com
Dominic Ysirdron, M.S.
Roberto Renteria, M.A.
Postdoc Representative – postdocrepdiv38@gmail.com
Megan Douglas, Ph.D.