Specialists in Artificial Intelligence

• Tell us about your current professional roles and activities.

I am currently a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine and am the Associate Director of Education and Evaluation at the VA Palo Alto Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC). In my roles, I conduct research and program evaluation centered around increasing access to services for older adults via telehealth and technology-delivered interventions. My roles encompass developing, delivering education to health professions trainees, fellows, and licensed providers to increase the knowledge and skills needed to work with older adults. I also provide clinical services to older adults in two outpatient clinics (geriatric psychiatry and geriatric primary care/co-management).

• How do you utilize artificial intelligence in your professional activities? 

Recently, I have been collaborating on a project led by a computer scientist, Dr. Ehsan Adeli, who is developing AI models to detect neuropsychiatric symptoms in older adults from video-based monitoring. The Stanford investigative team includes a cognitive neuroscientist (Dr. Vankee Lin), geriatrician (Dr. Silvia Tee), and geropsychologist (me). My role on the project has been to advise on the study design in terms of measures used, recruitment methods, and retention. I also led a survey of clinicians to learn about what aspects of neuropsychiatric symptoms they would want to have summarized on a clinician dashboard once the system has been developed and validated. We will soon begin analyzing the recorded videos and will review video segments that also will be used to train the AI models. 

• What advice would you give to psychologists or trainees interested in pursuing board certification?

Board certification in geropsychology requires introspection and experience as a licensed psychologist. Pursuit of board certification when one has time for reflection, is willing to consider growth opportunities, and after one gains initial experience in the field is recommended.

• What do you enjoy most about your job?

My favorite part of my work involves working on interprofessional teams in clinical practice, program evaluation, and research related to the care of older adults. One of my most rewarding projects has been to examine the development and impact of consultative models of telehealth care on access to services for rural populations. 

• What inspired you to get board certified in Geropsychology?

As early as high school, I knew that my career would include working with older adults. I loved intergenerational learning and pursued volunteering that included interactions with older adults across many settings during my high school and college years. During college and in my first position as a research assistant, I learned of the field of geropsychology within the larger clinical psychology field. I sought to study geropsychology in graduate school where I was fortunate to work with Barry Edelstein PhD at West Virginia University where my passion for working with older adults led me to my first steps towards specializing in geropsychology through my training and coursework.

I observed close colleagues obtain board certification in geropsychology once it was available, but I was not yet eligible as I was a postdoctoral fellow at the time. My inspiration came from those close colleagues, but also from within as board certification represented an opportunity for professional introspection in which I could evaluate my personal strengths and growing edges in geropsychology in my continued path of lifelong learning.

• How has board certification contributed to your professional activities?

Board certification in geropsychology has increased my focus on ethics and the importance of teaching trainees how to navigate ethical dilemmas in addition to providing them with foundational geropsychology knowledge and skills. Additionally, in the settings where I work, being board certified is becoming increasingly common and something that signals to both patients and future trainees that you are a specialist who has reflected on their role as a geropsychology. 

• What advice would you give to psychologists or trainees interested in integrating artificial intelligence into their professional activities?

I recommend beginning to learn about AI by using it for your daily life or for ways to help streamline your work. Writing a good prompt for an AI model can take some practice. I have used AI to come up with art projects for volunteering in my son’s kindergarten classroom, to draft multiple choice post-test for trainings, and for generating code for statistical programs to help with analysis.