Benefits of Membership

Executive Committee & Officers

For more information on becoming a member of Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society - Central Chapter, please send an email to papsych@papsych.org. Psychiatric Society members practicing in central Pennsylvania have dues-free access to the additional benefits of its Central chapter, including:

Two CME dinner meetings throughout the year, for members and their spouses or guests.
One social event per year, for members and their spouses or guests.
Opportunities to become informed and involved in issues affecting psychiatric practice on a local level.
Psychiatric resident outreach programs, including attendance at all dinner meetings free-of-charge to residents and their spouses or guests.
Representation of local issues through its representatives to the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society's governing Council.

President

Zeeshan Faruqui, MD

President-Elect

Pradipta Majumder, MD, FAPA

Secretary-Treasurer

Luke Piper, MD

Immediate Past President

Indranil Chakrabarti, MD

Delegate to PaPS Council

Douglas A. Ockrymiek, DO

Resident Representatives to Council

Harsimar Kaur, MD

Councilors

Shiv S. Aggarwal, MD

Kathleen C. Dougherty, MD

Ahmad Hameed, MD

Education Committee Chair

Abhishek Nitturkar, MD

RFM Representative

Melissa Free, MD

Early Career Psychiatrist Representative

Abhishek Nitturkar, MD, FAPA

Past Events

Central Chapter PaPS Virtual Poster Night 2024

The Central held its annual Virtual Poster Night on January 25 hosted by moderators Abbishek Nitturkar, M.D., and Luke Piper, M.D. The event was exceptionally successful – 18 posters were submitted for judging! Three posters were selected from the group for prizes. The 2024 winners are:

FIRST PLACE: Lydia Maliackel: “Describing the role of the exposome to explain variance in youth suicide attempts: individual level psychosocial exposome”

SECOND PLACE: Moises Santana, M.D.: “Barriers to psychiatric care and placement in patients with ASD presenting to the ED for behavioral health concerns”

THIRD PLACE: Setareh K. Gooshvar: “The Role of Broad Pharmacogenomic Testing in Anxiety Management”

Additionally, two “Peoples’ Choice” Awards were voted on in real time during the course of the event.Those 2024 winners are:

FIRST PLACE: Robyn A. Panchaud, M.D.: “Managing the Psychiatric Comorbidities of a Patient with Primary Angiitis of the Central Nervous System (PACNS)”

SECOND PLACE: Mark T. Shephard, D.O.: “Design and Implementation of a jumpstart course in counseling techniques for first year psychiatry residents”

Special thanks go out to our judges for that evening’s event: Indranil Chakrabarti, M.D.; Luke Piper, M.D.; Irakli Mania, M.D.; and Abbishek Nitturkar, M.D.

Click on THIS LINK to view the poster submissions.

2019 Holiday Social and Awards Program

What If...Of Hershey

The CPPS Holiday Social and awards program was an evening of celebration and recognition. Shiv S. Aggarwal, MD was honored with the 2019 Presidential Award in recognition of his services to the profession of psychiatry. The American Foundation of Suicide Prevention (Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter) was awarded the 2019 Service Recognition Award in recognition of their efforts that have brought a higher level of awareness to the mental health needs of the community.

Dr. Ailyn Diaz presents the 2019 Service Recognition Award to the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention (Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter). The award was presented to recognize their efforts to bring a higher level of a wareness to mental health needs in the community.

Central Residents Night 2021

2019 CPPS Resident's Night and Poster Competition

Congratulations to the poster award winners:

First Place

Mostafa Khalil, MD, of Penn State Hershey Medical Center

Second Place

Tuna Hasoglu, MD, of Penn State Hershey Medical Center

Third Place

Hassaan Gomma, MD, of Penn State Hershey Medical Center