The Department of Psychiatry’s Faculty Development Committee supports the progress of junior, mid-level and senior faculty members. The committee provides resources for career development, including education, research and scholarship, clinical expertise and service, wellness and work-life integration.

Through monthly meetings, the committee:

  • Serves as a liaison between faculty members and leadership. 
  • Orients new faculty members. 
  • Supports faculty promotion and advancement. 
  • Coordinates mentorship programs and actively pursues core faculty development areas of interest. 
  • Organizes seminars, workshops and retreats on topics of faculty development. 
  • Highlights accomplishments and contributions of faculty online and in a monthly newsletter. 

Encouraging personal and professional growth

The committee supports all faculty members of the Department of Psychiatry and helps to ensure everyone has resources for advancement, both institutionally and in the field of psychiatry.

The School of Medicine’s Faculty Affairs Resources page provides current job postings; benefits; titles and professional tracks; codes of conduct; information on reporting abuse, discrimination or ethics violations; investigator resources; and information on diversity and inclusion. The School of Medicine has research resources for faculty and staff, and the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library has dedicated faculty resources for research and teaching.

For current faculty and students, the Faculty Affairs intranet page (password required) contains document templates and training guides for opening and offering academic positions, tenure, justification for increase, hosting visiting scholars and other resources.

The School of Medicine also offers assistance for faculty, staff, fellows, residents, clinicians and researchers through the Office of Clinician Well-Being. Feelings of stress, anxiety, burnout and depression can be common in medical careers, and the Office of Clinician Well-Being offers mental health support, including short-term counseling and referrals.

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry provides educational toolkits and resources tailored to residents and fellows and early-career psychiatrists. The American Psychiatric Association also has information on topics including workplace mental health and understanding coding and reimbursement.

Faculty Development Committee Members

Ravi Shankar, MD

Ravi Shankar, MD

Committee Chair

Bio

Bio: I completed my Psychiatry Residency and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at West Virginia University, Morgantown. After completing my residency, I started my academic career at Mizzou on the inpatient child psychiatry unit and currently work as an Associate Professor in the Child Outpatient Clinic. Over the years, I have been involved in teaching and training learners. I have served as the Psychiatry Clerkship Director and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Director before switching to my role as the Psychiatry Training Director. Training and education is something that is very close to my heart be it trainees (Medical Students, Residents) or Faculty.

Why did I join the Committee: I have served as Chair of the Faculty Development Committee and work with the other committee members in supporting Faculty members in their professional and personal growth. It is rewarding to try and identify the needs of Faculty members and try to align their specific goals for professional/personal development in pursuit of meaningful work.

Profile

Meelie Bordoloi, MD

Meelie Bordoloi, MD

Bio

Bio: I am a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and currently work in the inpatient unit of the department. I worked as a Resident Physician and then as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellow in the same unit which adds history, familiarity, and experience. Currently in my role as an Associate Training Director of the Child and Adolescent Fellowship, I can train the next generation of Psychiatrists which is something I have always been passionate about. I have two children, a German Shepherd and a 2 year old son who keep us very busy and entertained.

Why did I join the Committee: I also believe mentoring faculty is important and I have been actively involved in the role of a Mentorship Coordinator of the Department trying to engage senior and junior faculty to bring on a healthy and better workforce. I hope to continue with all my roles and contribute to the betterment of the department and community at large.

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Ila Durkin, MD

Ila Durkin, MD

Bio

Bio: I completed my Medical Degree and my Psychiatry Residency at the University of Missouri. I started my career in the outpatient psychiatric clinic before transitioning to the adult psychiatric inpatient unit and neuromodulation team at Mizzou. In this role I am involved in bedside teaching of medical students and resident physicians. I have been a facilitator for the School of Medicine’s Mental Health Block each fall since I was a resident. I give psychiatric lectures for other departments at Mizzou and for the Physician Assistant program at Stephens College. Since August 2022 I have had the honor of serving as Associate Psychiatry Training Director.

Why did I join the Committee: I think involvement in medical student and resident training is one of the most important responsibilities of a physician. I am interested in faculty development as it pertains to the faculty members role as a teacher and mentor to medical students and resident physicians. As I myself grown and learn in my role as a teacher, I hope to share and collaborate with my colleagues in order to give our students and residents a robust and supportive educational experience.  

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Shikha Gupta, PSYD

Shikha Gupta, PSYD

Bio

Bio: Prior to working in the MU Department of Psychiatry, I worked at the MU Student Health Center for five years. This setting had an integrated behavioral health team in a primary care clinic, and I learned the immense value of multidisciplinary care. After joining the Department of Psychiatry, I became the Director of Psychological Services and have been working to elevate the role of psychotherapy in our health care system’s mental health care delivery.

Why did I join the Committee: Personal and professional growth is a core value of mine and want to be part of a team that helps our colleagues be able to grow as well. I have had amazing mentors in the past and value the role of mentorship, so I am happy to provide this to others as well.

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Bruce Horwitz, PhD

Bruce Horwitz, PhD

Bio

Bio: I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. Previously, I have held various positions as a clinician, administrator and researcher. Currently, I am primarily focused on undergraduate medical education as the co-director of two pre-clinical courses and the psychiatry clerkship director. Recently, I was appointed as co-chair with Dr. Mary Dohrmann of the newly formed Faculty Development Coordinating Committee under the auspices of Dr. Frederic Fraunfelder, the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. The charge for this committee is to integrate and coordinate various faculty development initiatives within the School of Medicine and to help foster a culture of professionalism.

Why did I join the Committee: The work of this committee complements and supplements my responsibilities with the SOM with department level activities that can serve as a model to foster personal and professional growth.

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Sultana Jahan, MD

Sultana Jahan, MD

Bio

Bio: I am currently working as a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Missouri-Columbia. I completed my residency training in General Psychiatry and fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Missouri–Columbia, in 2006. Right after my training, I was offered a position at the University of Missouri-Columbia as an Assistant Professor. In 2014, I was promoted to Associate Professor and in 2022 to Full Professor at the same institution. I am involved in patient care, teaching medical students, resident physicians and child fellows. I am also involved in different research projects. I am a diplomat of American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) and an active member of American Psychiatric Association (APA), American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), Missouri Chapter, American Association of Pediatrics (MOAAP), World Federation of ADHD, and Neuroscience Education Institute.

Why did I join the Committee: I have been serving as a member of the Faculty Development Committee at the Department of Psychiatry, since its inception in 2019. As a committee, we take part in scheduled meetings and discuss different ideas for faculty growth and improvement. It is very fulfilling to identify faculty needs and work towards archiving specific goals for their professional/personal development.

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Katelyn Price, MBA

Katelyn Price, MBA

Bio

Bio: I am the Business Manager for the Department of Psychiatry. I help with setting up the annual department budget and oversee operations such as recruitment and hiring, clinical scheduling, and project management.

Why did I join the Committee: I want to continue to grow with the Department, so this committee gave me an opportunity to get to know more people on the team and learn more about our faculty roles and their development within the Department.

Ashish Sarangi, MD

Ashish Sarangi, MD

Bio

Bio: I completed a dual psychiatry residency, firstly at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, followed by a second residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Texas. Following this, I followed my passion of working with older adults and completed a geriatric psychiatry fellowship at the Menninger Department of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Working with various trainees in the field of mental health has been a passion over the course of my training and I currently serve as the Associate Clerkship Director of Medical Students for psychiatry here at the University of Missouri, along with my role as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry.

Why did I join the Committee: Being a member of this committee allows me to make a meaningful contribution towards the development of the department and learn from various members at different levels of experience. The committee is dedicated towards the personal and professional growth of each member and is a space where like-minded individuals come together to share the common goal of improving the functioning of the department as a whole.

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Bob Sobule, PA-C, CAQ-Psychiatry

Bob Sobule, PA

Bio

Wesley Thompson, PSYD

Wesley Thompson, PSYD

Bio

Bio: I completed my pre-doctoral internship at Southern Illinois University’s Student Health Center and my post-doctoral training at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I moved to Columbia from Chicago in 2014 and started a private practice. I made the leap into an academic setting when I joined Mizzou in 2018, and quickly found that working in education (with medical students and with residents) is one of the more rewarding aspects of my job. I am currently an Assistant Professor and an Associate Program Directory for our psychiatry training program.

Why did I join the Committee: I have been fortunate enough to be a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry since October 2018. Serving on the Faculty Development Committee gives me a chance to give back to the department in supporting my fellow faculty members.

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