Today we’d like to introduce you to Gerald Cheng.
Hi Gerald, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in California in a house where medicine was part of daily life. Both of my parents were physicians, so the idea of being a doctor was highly encouraged, especially the aspect of being able to serve patients in difficult times in their life. I ended up pursuing the profession because I wanted to be a part of that work.
Before going to medical school, I spent a gap year as a chaplain at Penang Adventist Hospital in Malaysia. It turned out to be the most formative year of my training, though it wasn’t technically training at all. Sitting with patients and families at the bedside, without a procedure or a prescription to hide behind, taught me about the art of listening
I went to Loma Linda University School of Medicine, which is close to my hometown, and really encouraged me to see patients from a whole person perspective. I found myself falling in love with the specialty of psychiatry because it took the whole person seriously: the biology, the story, the family, the meaning someone makes of their suffering.
Instead of staying in Southern California, I decided to try something different. My wife and I moved to Nashville, where I joined TriStar Centennial’s Psychiatry residency program. Nashville became home in a way I didn’t expect. Alongside residency, I joined the Frist College of Medicine as adjunct clinical faculty, ran a resident book club, and started a substack called The Learning Psychiatrist. I expected to practice as an adult psychiatry resident in the Nashville area until I found myself falling in love with child and adolescent psychaitry.
Now I’m applying to child and adolescent psychiatry fellowships that start in July 2027. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with children and families, with a special emphasis on eating disorders, neurodevelopmental issues, and therapy training. We’ll see where life leads, but eventually hoping to stay in Nashville long term and help the broader community as a child and adolescent psychiatrist.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road to get to this point hasn’t been the smoothest. The first real tension came when I chose psychiatry, a path that didn’t match the cultural expectations I grew up with about what a “real” medical career looks like, and I had to trust my own sense of calling over the usual options. The second was deciding where to train. I had the option to stay in California, close to family and everything I knew, but I wanted to experience something different, so I left. That choice was challenging because for the first time in my life I was living outside California and building a community from scratch. Over time, through work, church, and other friends that my wife and I discovered here, I fell in love with the city.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am currently a 3rd year psychiatry resident at TriStar Centennial Medical Center working in an outpatient psychiatry clinic. I specialize in the treatment of mental health disorders, which includes depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and PTSD. My 3rd year focuses on outpatient continuity clinic, and I have really loved the opportunity to get to know my patients on a longitudinal basis through medication management and administering psychotherapy. I value being intentional about getting to know someone’s story and how I can best help them navigate through their current life stressors.
Contact Info:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldkcheng
