For Release: February 1, 2008
Contact: Jason Aldous 603-653-1913
Dartmouth Resident Receives Prestigious Psychiatry Fellowship
Dr. Giuseppe "Bepi" Raviola
HANOVER, NH—Dr. Giuseppe "Bepi" Raviola, a resident in child and adolescent psychiatry at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) is one of only 10 residents nationally awarded a 2008 Laughlin Fellowship from the American College of Psychiatrists (ACP), given each year to residents deemed most likely to make a significant future contribution to psychiatry.
Raviola is the second DHMC psychiatry resident to receive this prestigious fellowship, named for ACP founder Dr. Henry P. Laughlin. Fellows receive a stipend to attend the College's annual meeting and participate in all educational functions, which allows them to interact with College members, as well as their peers in other residency programs.
"I feel very fortunate to be honored by the Laughlin Fellowship selection committee, and am really looking forward to the professional development opportunities that the experience will offer," Raviola said.
He noted that part of his motivation in coming to DHMC for training in child and adolescent psychiatry was to better understand the challenges that both primary care physicians and psychiatrists face in meeting the mental health needs of children and families in rural areas here in the United States, where geography and lack of resources serve as barriers to care. In his career, he hopes to work to build teams and bridge disciplines in seeking to address disparities in how mental health needs are met, and in so doing, to contribute to closing mental health resource gaps in local and global contexts.
"The Laughlin Fellowship is a singular honor for a resident to achieve, since only 10 are awarded each year," said Dr. Robert Racusin, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School and director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Training at DHMC, and Raviola's program director. "Dr. Raviola's selection was based on his exceptional accomplishments throughout medical school and residency training, in the areas of research, teaching, and service to the community both locally and abroad. As a Lauglin Fellow, Dr. Raviola will be able to further develop his potential as a future leader in the field."
The Laughlin Fellowship is a singular honor for a resident to achieve, since only 10 are awarded each year.
—Dr. Robert Racusin
Raviola has consistently received high marks for his work at DHMC. Notably, as a first year trainee, Raviola volunteered for six months at an affiliated community mental health center that had suddenly lost its only child/adolescent psychiatrist. This work involved taking clinical responsibility for a large caseload of children and their families, many of whom were extremely ill, impoverished and geographically isolated. Racusin said it was only because of Raviola's exceptional clinical maturity and judgment that he was permitted to do this with a level of autonomy usually reserved for senior residents and faculty. After this rotation, his supervisor wrote, "We all owe him a debt of gratitude for taking this on and performing his duties with exceptional competence and thoroughness."
Throughout his medical training Raviola has sought opportunities to broaden his experience in providing health care to disenfranchised populations. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 2002, where he completed a research project at East Africa's largest hospital investigating and documenting the significant challenges faced by physicians in public medical practice in sub-Saharan Africa under the burdens of poverty, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. He received two Harvard Medical School awards for his work. A former soccer player at Dartmouth College, where he majored in history, Raviola has also been a board member for Grassroot Soccer, an international AIDS awareness and education organization for African children based in the Upper Valley.
Before starting his two-year fellowship training at DHMC, Raviola completed a residency in general psychiatry at Massachusetts General and McLean Hospitals in Boston, where he served as chief resident in international and community mental health.
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