Four Pines Fellowship for Excellence in Suicide Prevention and Treatment

The Four Pines Fellowship for Excellence in Suicide Prevention and Treatment is an educational and research program designed to support healthcare learners attain increased awareness and skills for working with patients at risk for intentional self-harm and suicide. The Fellowship is completed by learners over an approximate 12-month time-period and is integrated with their regular academic commitments, e.g., over the summer, during dedicated research project time or as part of an elective course. Fellows are UVM graduate-level students who intend to go into a primary healthcare specialty, psychiatry or a related medical or mental health field. The Fellowship consists of two main elements: 1) a series of online and in-person learning experiences on suicide and self-harm prevention, and 2) a mentored research project addressing a question or need related to suicide prevention in healthcare settings.

Fellows receive financial support for their research and depending on their graduate program, may be eligible to receive a stipend. The Fellowship is supervised by Tom Delaney, PhD, an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, VCHIP faculty member and suicidologist who is supported in this work by a Leadership Committee.

Green Divider Line

Expectations
 

UVM students are eligible for Four Pines Fellowships if they are in a UVM graduate healthcare training program and intend to go into primary health care or a mental health field after completing their program. After submitting a successful Fellowship proposal, students will work with a mentor to plan their research project including their goals, a timeline, and a list of needed resources for project completion. It is expected that all projects will be of sufficient quality and importance that they will be submitted to regional and national suicide prevention and related research meetings, as well as being developed into peer reviewed publications. 

Alongside the research project, Fellows will be expected over the course of a year to complete a series of suicide prevention-related clinical educational experiences including online self-paced trainings, review of key articles and guidelines, attending Grand Rounds presentations at UVM and other institutions, participating in clinical shadowing opportunities, and other opportunities. The total expected time commitment for the clinical educational components is approximately 30 hours.

Green Divider Line

Application
 

Selection of Four Pines Fellows uses a multi-step process. Applicants initially contact Dr. Delaney in the fall or early in the spring semester and depending on their interest they may be asked to develop an initial project proposal. The proposal is then reviewed and scored. After requested revisions are made, the student may be invited to become a Fellow and will be assigned to a project mentor. 

For medical students the research project is typically done in the summer after the first year and clinical experiences/education continue through their second year. Other graduate students typically complete the Fellowship during the second year of their program. Interested students are encouraged to contact Dr. Delaney at any point in the year with questions about the Fellowship. 

Questions about the Four Pines Fellowship? Contact Dr. Tom Delaney

Green Divider Line

Presentations and Publications

2022

1. Song P and Delaney T. Supporting Pediatricians in Identifying and Responding to Intentional Self-Poisoning in Young People. Medical Student Summer Research Poster Session, Burlington VT, September 2022.

2. Kamkar R and Delaney T. Combined Associations of Risk and Protective Factors with Suicidality in LGBTQ Youth in Vermont. Medical Student Summer Research Poster Session, Burlington VT, September 2022.

2023

1. Ray N, Pelski J, Delaney T. Intentional Self-Poisoning Prevention: A Feasibility Analysis in Pediatric Primary Care. (Presentation at the Vermont Agency of Human Services Suicide Prevention Data Group, March 2023)

2. Ray N, Pelski J, Delaney T. Intentional Self-Poisoning Prevention: A Feasibility Analysis in Pediatric Primary Care. (Presentation at the Suicide Research Symposium, April 2023)    

3. Kamkar R, Delaney T. Perspectives from LGBTQ Youth: Associations between Risk Factors, Mattering to the Community, and Making a Suicide Plan (Presentation at the Suicide Research Symposium, April 2023)  

4. Song P, Delaney T. Supporting Pediatricians in Identifying and Responding to Intentional Self-Poisoning in Young People. (Presentation at the Suicide Research Symposium, April 2023)  

5. Ray N, Pelski J, Delaney T. Intentional Self-Poisoning Prevention: A Feasibility Analysis in Pediatric Primary Care. (Presentation at the UVM College of Nursing and Health Science Evidence Based Practice Colloquium, May 2023)  

6. Ray N, Pelski J, Delaney T. Intentional Self-Poisoning Prevention: A Feasibility Analysis in Pediatric Primary Care. (Presentation at the UVM Zeigler Forum, May 2023)  

7. Summer Scholars: Medical Students Dive into Research. Janet Essman Franz. Vermont Medicine Magazine, August 23, 2023.

8. Delaney T, Song P. Lethal Means Safety and Primary Care: Insights from the Suicide Research Symposium. (Presentation at the Vermont Suicide Prevention Coalition, September 2023)  

9. Ray, N. Intentional Self-Poisoning Prevention: A Feasibility Analysis in Pediatric Primary Care. (Presentation at the Vermont Suicide Prevention Coalition, September 2023)  

Green Divider Line

Four Pines Fellows, March 2024
  
Natalie Ray

Natalie T. Ray is a recent graduate of the University of Vermont with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. During her time as a Four Pines Fellow, she developed and implemented a quality improvement project focused on intentional self-poisoning prevention and lethal means safety in pediatric primary care. Her findings were presented at the national Suicide Research Symposium and locally at the Vermont Department of Health and the Vermont Suicide Prevention Coalition. She currently works in inpatient psychiatric care in Vermont and plans to pursue post-doctoral certification in psychiatric and mental health nursing practice. 

  
Paige Song

Paige Song graduated from the University of California, San Diego where she earned a degree in human development with a minor in biology. Before starting medical school, she worked as a behavioral therapist for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in California. After medical school she plans to pursue a career in pediatrics or women’s health. Paige is committed to supporting expanded suicide prevention services in primary care settings. Her Fellowship project focused on promoting tools to support pediatricians in identifying and responding to intentional self-poisoning behaviors in young patients through adoption of the Vermont Intentional Self-Poisoning Prevention Toolkit.

  
Ryan Kamkar

Ryan Kamkar is a California native passionate about promoting the health of marginalized community members by examining socioeconomic barriers toward success. His past research and volunteer work with teenagers focused on addressing toxic stress on a community level and its very real manifestations in physiological symptoms. A main goal of his is to help create new community resources that align with the present-day needs of LGBTQ youth. Ryan’s fellowship project examined protective factors and risks related to suicidal ideation in LGB and Trans-identifying Vermont high school aged youth, and his findings have been shared broadly in Vermont and at a national research meeting.

  

Muhammad ZebMuhammad Zeb is a second-year student in the Larner College of Medicine at UVM who is currently conducting his Fellowship research project. The project focusses on developing an educational resource for healthcare providers to help in assessing mental health and suicide risk in Afghan refugees living in Vermont. After conducting a series of literature searches and interviewing experts on culturally competent approaches to mental health screening / assessment with Afghan refugees, he developed an training presentation that is being adapted into a self-directed e-learning module and a grand rounds presentation for primary care departments.

  
Khadija Moussadek

Khadija Moussadek is a second-year medical student at the Larner College of Medicine from the Albany NY area and has lived experience of suicide loss. She is committed to research on identifying and providing supports to children, youth and their families in the area of intentional self-harm, which can be a risk factor for later suicide attempts. The outcome of her project will be a self-directed e-learning module for health care providers that summarizes best practices and provides evidence-based screening and assessment tools for intentional self-harm for children and youth.  

  
Nicole Salib

Nicole Salib is a second-year student at the UVM Larner College of Medicine. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park where she studied Psychology and developed a passion for advocating for mental health. Her experiences before medical school include leading a pediatric community service group and working at the Boys and Girls club, where she became committed to children’s health, and she intends to specialize in Pediatrics. Her fellowship project is focused on developing educational supports for preventing intentional self-poisoning in children and youth.  

Green Divider Line