About
The Story Behind
Psych Debates
Psych Debates is a resident-physician-led project created with the intention of providing a space for the discussion and dissection of important topics in mental health care using debate. We debate topics ranging from role of religion in mental wellness, to physicians’ role in providing assisted suicide, to the legalization of recreational drugs and its impacts on society. The positions of proposition and opposition in our debates are assigned randomly to put the ego of combatants aside and create empathy and understanding for differing sides. This allows us and our audience to live vicariously through other people’s understanding of different important issues and to gain greater insight. Our aim is to allow for the meta-examination and analysis of the field from different disciplines and perspectives by inviting the biggest experts and learning from them. This project is solely an educational endeavor, created by psychiatry residents to raise public awareness on important topics and to invite input from our audience on the debates that will shape the future of psychiatry.
Meet Your Hosts
Dr. Monty El-tohami, founder and co-host of Psych Debates, is a physician resident at Duke University. Prior to moving to North Carolina, he completed a year of internal medicine training in New York City and then joined Duke to pursue his dream of becoming a psychiatrist. He has special interests in psychotherapy, preventative, public, and integrative psychiatry.
Dr. Jonathan Nahamias, co-host of Psych Debates, joined Duke for his psychiatry residency training after completing his medical school training in Oklahoma. He has special interest interests in psychotherapy, mental health disparities, immigrant mental health and public mental health.