Andrés S Martin, MD, PhD, MPH
Riva Ariella Ritvo Professor in the Child Study Center and Professor of Psychiatry; Medical Director, Children's Psychiatric Inpatient Service at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital; Director, Standardized Patient Program, Teaching and Learning Center; Director of Medical Studies, Yale Child Study Center, Child Study Center
I was born, raised, and attended medical school in Mexico, where I initially thought I’d return to and settle down for good. I came to the US to train, first in Miami for two years, then in Boston for five, and after getting married to my wife Rebecca, thought we’d try New Haven for a year or so. 26 or so years later, I remain at Yale, the one and only employer I have had in my life. The pull to stay at Yale and in New Haven has clearly been strong.
For over 20 years, I have served as the medical director of Winchester One, the young child psychiatric unit at Yale–New Haven Hospital. I love the intensity, the kids, the teamwork, and the ability to make a difference, all while helping train the next generation of practitioners. Winchester One and the Child Study Center have one strong commonality: how they blend old, long-standing traditions, with vibrancy and freshness of thought. For example, the Child Study Center has been around for over 110 years, and conducts today some of the most cutting-edge research. Winchester One, in turn, is around 50 years old, and incorporates on a daily basis some of the brightest fellows and medical students in the country. This mixture of the old and the new is a real gift of the Center and of Winny 1.
When I think of supervision and guidance to our fellows and medical students, I like to balance giving complete freedom, but not so much so as to feel like wild cowboys, all on their own. I try to remain hovering in the background, nonintrusive, non-smothering, but just there, following along and being available. In addition to child psychiatry, my main academic interests are in medical education (did you know that Yale School of Medicine has a Center for Medical Education? I am a proud member of it), as well as in qualitative methods, which I am trying hard to bring into the mainstream of our specialty.
I continue to live in New Haven, where my four kids went through public schools before going off to college. I love this town. Most recent discovery/personal obsession: sailing in the New Haven harbor. This is a little city, but one with plenty of surprises for everyone.