Rakshitha Mohankumar
Rakshitha Mohankumar graduated from UC Davis in 2018 with a B.A. in Psychology and Minors in Professional Writing and Sociology. After graduating, she got her M.A. in Research and Experimental Psychology from San Jose State University. Currently, Rakshitha is a 5th-year Clinical Psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and is completing her pre-doctoral clinical internship at the South Texas Veterans Affairs (VA).
From Rakshitha, you’ll learn about post-graduate academic degrees, exciting classes in the Professional Writing minor, and what it's like to work in clinical psychology!
Why did you decide to become a Professional Writing minor?
I was a psychology major in undergrad, but I always loved English and writing. I pursued psychology because I wanted to learn more about human behavior, but I wanted a minor that involved writing. At the time, the professional writing minor was newer, and I stumbled upon it through flyers in my lecture hall. It seemed like a very doable minor that offered interesting classes. I really loved the professional editing class (UWP 112A) and the Writing in Professions: Health class (UWP 104F). These classes came in handy when I wrote research papers and manuscripts because I was a more experienced editor and had a well-defined point of view in my writing.
The internship requirement was also very helpful because my internship mentor pushed me to where I am today. He was a neuropsychologist for the UC Davis School of Medicine, and I helped him by editing book chapters and putting together a psychology newsletter. He told me I should pursue clinical psychology, and that advice helped guide me to my current career path. I really enjoyed my time in the Professional Writing minor program, and those experiences helped me discover more about my career options.
How did you decide to pursue graduate school?
After completing my bachelor's in psychology, I became a clinical research coordinator at VA Palo Alto. I learned about different career trajectories available to me from my fellow researchers. From there, I decided to pursue a master's in Research and Experimental Psychology. In my master's program, I got to really hone in on research and wrote a thesis I was proud of, focusing on the intersection of culture and mental health stigma. After those experiences, I knew I wanted to do more research and decided to get my PhD. Getting advice from my fellow researchers in the VA and exploring my passion for research were some of the defining steps in my choice to pursue higher education.
What Are Your Current Research Interests and dissertation topic?
My research interests are in geropsychology, which is clinical psychology work with older adults. I’ve always liked working with this population, and this passion has shaped a large part of my academic career. However, I didn’t immediately know what my research interests were when I started college. As a freshman at UC Davis, I was originally a biochemistry major, but it felt like something was missing from my coursework. Before college, I would often volunteer at senior homes. I always loved hearing stories from elders in my community, like how they came to this country and their unique perspectives on life. I thought back to those experiences and realized I wanted to work with people more often, so I switched to a psychology major. In my new major, my passions and research interests started coming together. I decided I wanted to work with older adults to learn how the system around mental health care was or was not working for them. After college, I learned more about geropsychology while pursuing my doctorate and working with my research mentor, a clinical geropsychologist. In my mentor’s lab, her research focuses on community work with older adults. Working with her really solidified my decision to focus on geropsychology and made me want to pursue my doctorate.
Now I am a Clinical Psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and I am almost done with my dissertation and degree. My research centers on how older adults receive mental health care and on bridging the knowledge gap through booster sessions. My dissertation topic stems from my personal identities as a South Asian person and being from a first-generation immigrant family. We don’t usually talk about mental health, and there is this mentality, especially with older generations, around toughening things out and not letting your feelings or what others think influence you. The older adult population is growing, and most older adults are helped in frontline settings like primary care. However, the stigma around mental health can potentially deter them from seeking help in specialized traditional therapy clinics. It is important to have psychology integrated into larger healthcare settings, and so we have to think about how we can do that and meet folks where they are. With my dissertation, I am looking at how we can improve a specific brief mental health intervention to be implemented in primary care settings to meet folks’ needs in accessible settings. Looking toward the future, I hope to bridge the gap in access and knowledge around mental health care and contribute to the current research in my field.
What advice do you have for current students?
Writing gets better with practice, so write something every day! Even if it’s just a short paragraph or journaling about your passions, practicing writing will help your unique voice come through in your work. In research, there are so many opportunities for writing and sharing what matters to you. Through practice, I learned to be a more concise and clear writer in my research papers and thesis. Also, with the rise in AI, it is very tempting to want to rely on this technology to write for you. However, AI can never replicate your passion and creativity, so keep writing. Finally, don’t turn down opportunities when they present themselves, even if it’s outside the scope of your comfort zone. I pursued the Professional Writing minor, and it led me to so many great experiences and helped me build my portfolio.
If you are interested in pursuing a career in clinical psychology or have more questions about Rakshitha’s experiences, you can reach out to her at [email protected] or connect with her on LinkedIn.