2026 Virtual Series:
Navigating Your Career Path: Considerations for a Lifelong Career in Psychiatry
About this Series:
Psychiatry is a fulfilling career path with numerous avenues for practice. Psychiatrists can focus on certain settings, such as inpatient or outpatient, work in specialized systems, such as the VA or corrections, or create their own combination of numerous contracts and practice settings. With so many options, it can be difficult to choose a particular path or determine the best path forward when looking to change career paths or jobs. Join IPS for our next virtual series as we explore “Navigating Your Career Path: Considerations for a Lifelong Career in Psychiatry.” We’ll be joined by experienced panelists who will lead us in learning about considerations when transitioning between positions, all things private practice, best practices for testifying in commitment proceedings with a focus on outpatient commitment processes, and working in specific, specialized clinical systems. Whether you’re looking for advice for locating your first job, your fifth job, or information about opening your own practice, our panelists will be able to offer considerations and answer questions based on their personal experience. Please join us as we explore the many facets of psychiatric practice together!
This is a 4-part series with sessions falling on the third Thursday of the month between January and April 2026. (01/15, 02/19, 03/19, 04/16) Sessions will run from 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Session 1: Transitions Between Positions
January 15, 2026 | 6:30-8:00 PM (CST)
Panelists:
Adrienne Adams, MD Psychiatry Residency Program Director, Vice Chair of Education & Academics, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Endeavor Health
Ryan Finkenbine, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria
Sudhakar Shenoy, MD Founder, Downtown Psychiatry Chicago
Panelists will discuss:
Hiring Red Flags
Considerations when changing career positions
U.S. visa dos and don'ts for international psychiatry members.
And more...
About Our Panelists:
Dr. Adrienne Adams MD, Adrienne Adams MD, MS graduated from Wayne State School of Medicine where she received the Distinguished Medical Student Award from the Department of Psychiatry during her 4th year. She completed her General Psychiatry residency and Child and Adolescent fellowship at University of Illinois-Chicago and was Chief Fellow for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry residency. She received her master’s in clinical research from Rush University, Graduate College in 2012. Dr. Adams joined the faculty at Rush University as an Assistant Professor where she has worn many hats including interim inpatient medical director, CL director, outpatient medical director, and fellowship training director for 14 years. In August 2020 she was promoted to Associate Professor, in psychiatry, worked in the medical college as an advisor for the class of 2022, course facilitator within the graduate college for the Interpersonal Education Section (2017-2021). In 2021, she joined the UIC and Rockford campus as a visiting Associate Professor, the co-director for the Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation Jay G. Hirsch Medical Student Fellowship, UIC- Rockford campus, and the first African American female medical director for Rosecrance Griffin Williamson campus. She joined Endeavor Health as the Director of their new Residency Program in 2024. She has always been an advocate for child issues and has been interviewed by WGN Radio 720, Chicago Tribune, PBS local affiliate, WGN podcasts, and a panel discussant with the honorable Speaker of the House Welch and the CBS local news. Annually, she attends Advocacy Day on the Capital where she promotes mental health issues on the national level. She has also served on the Local Arrangements Committee for the 2008 and 2019 AACAP Annual Meeting in Chicago where she was the Chair for the Monitors Board. She became a Distinguished Fellow in AACAP (2019), and in APA (2021). She has held nationally elected positions in AACAP and AADPRT. Within Illinois Psychiatric Society (IPS) she has served as co-chair for the Health Equity and Antiracism Committee (HEAR-C), treasurer, and currently as IPS President.
Ryan Finkenbine, M.D. is Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria. He oversees the departments’ mission to provide excellent clinical care, education, research and outreach to the community. After a nearly four-decade career in medicine, he will be retiring soon to spend time with his family.
Sudhakar Shenoy, MD, FAPA earned his medical degree from Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, where he graduated as valedictorian. He completed his psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois. He is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) in both psychiatry and the subspecialty of child and adolescent psychiatry.
Before residency, Dr. Shenoy participated in research training at Harvard Medical School, Virginia Commonwealth University–Medical College of Virginia, and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in India.
Dr. Shenoy’s journey to medicine was shaped by a personal experience: as a child, he survived a life-threatening accident that required multiple surgeries. The scarcity of medical resources in India initially made it difficult to access timely care, but the compassion and skill of the physicians who ultimately treated him left a lasting impression. This experience remains a driving force behind his commitment to providing exceptional care for his patients. As an International Medical Graduate (IMG), Dr. Shenoy is deeply committed to serving medically underserved areas (MUAs) and health professional shortage areas (HPSAs).
He is the founder and Medical Director of Downtown Psychiatry Chicago, a private practice clinic in the heart of Chicago. Clinically, he is passionate about understanding the brain’s complexities and tailoring treatments that help patients thrive.
Dr. Shenoy is also a dedicated advocate for psychiatry and patient care. He currently serves as the Early Career Psychiatrist Trustee-at-Large on the American Psychiatric Association’s Board of Trustees, a nationally elected position he will hold for a three-year term.
Upcoming Sessions:
Session 2: All Things Private Practice
February 19, 2026 | 6:30-8:00 PM (CST)
Session 3: Best Practices for Court Testimony on Involuntary Treatment and Admissions Case
March 19 | 6:30-8:00 PM (CST)
Session 4: Exploring Practice Settings
April 16, 2026 | 6:30-8:00 PM (CST)