Authority Health resident honored by his medical school, publishes children’s book

By Dennis Archambault

The journey to a career in medicine requires a lot of help along the way. Often that help comes from peers who are well into that journey. Dr. Sai Vedati, a psychiatry resident at Authority Health, mentored a medical student at Ross University School of Medicine, helping position her for a residency program – which is a highly competitive process. That effort, coupled with his commitment to community service, earned him the Ross University School of Medicine Alumni Resident Star Award, which recognizes a recent graduate who has achieved early career success while embodying the university’s purpose, vision, and values.

Dr. Vedati is interested in focusing on community psychiatry, the practice of serving the needs of highly stressed people who find themselves in the safety net. He has been working with COPE Psychiatric Intervention Center, Livonia, and the Clinton Counseling Center, outside of his work as an Authority Health resident.

Last year he distinguished himself by providing a presentation on anxiety for students at Hope Academy in Detroit. He gave a complementary presentation for their parents as well.

Talking with children about anxiety motivated him to write a children’s book about mental health titled, Where Is Your Sparkle? “The book is about a little girl, South Asian, in a community where mental health is stigmatized,” he says. “This girl figures out how to display her emotions and how to discuss them.” The point of the book, Dr. Vedati says, is for children to understand that “sadness and feeling gloomy is not something that we should hide – and gets better when we ask for help.” He intends to use the book in his practice, along with other children’s books.

Born in India, Dr. Vedati said he wanted to write a book about “people who look like me,” as a way of promoting the universality of mental health care. “It took me awhile to be comfortable with my own identity,” he says.

Dr. Vedati will complete his third year of residency training at Authority Health in June. He will begin a fellowship in child psychotherapy at the University of Maryland in July. Upon completion of that two-year program, he would like to design a psychiatric practice in Maryland and Michigan, focusing on community mental health, involving crisis center work, and being involved in a nonprofit health capacity.

Reflecting on his years at Authority Health, Dr. Vedati noted that he, like the medical student he befriended, has benefited from mentors, including Dr. Theadia Carey, program director of the Authority Health Psychiatry Residency. “Dr. Carey knew that I wanted to be a psychiatry (residency) program director someday, so she mentored me and invited me to be part of a presentation on program director burnout – how it looks from a resident perspective at a national program directors meeting.”

Dr. Vedati would eventually like to establish practices in Michigan and Maryland doing various ty pes of community mental health and crisis center work. He’s committed to be involved with a nonprofit clinic and teaching the next generation of psychiatry students and residents – fulfilling the goals of the national Teaching Health Center program.

Authority Health Graduate Medical Education Teaching Health Center program offers medical residency in Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, and Internal medicine. 

Dennis Archambault is the VP of Public Affairs for Authority Health