Meet Dr Ashna Basu, Psychiatry Registrar at South Eastern Sydney LHD, and member of the RANZCP Committee for Research.

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your work. 

I’m a third-year psychiatry trainee; I’ve just finished a term in a Mental Health ICU in Sydney and I’m now doing my Consult-Liaison term. I’m engaged with the College through the Committee for Research, as a member of the College accreditation panels, and as a former associate trainee editor of Australasian Psychiatry. I also sit on the NSW Association of Psychiatry Trainees. Outside of work, I engage in global advocacy for gender equity as the Chair of the Young branch of the Medical Women’s International Association, and a Global Youth Fellow for the NGO Committee on the Status of Women. I’m also a bit of a governance nerd, and I’m a director of a governance advisory not-for-profit organisation.

2. Tell us about the Committee for Research and what motivated you to get involved in it?

I’ve been involved in research as someone who has contributed to studies and engaged in the peer review process, but the Committee for Research has been an amazing opportunity to see the other side – reviewing and awarding grants and considering broader strategic questions about engaging trainees and members in research. Research is a powerful vehicle for change, and I wanted to explore a different side of the process. I’ve loved my time with this committee, and I highly recommend people apply for the next vacancy! Happy to chat to anyone who’s interested. 

3. As a member of the Trainees' Advisory Council representing all College trainees, what are your main priorities during your term?

I haven’t had much of a chance to engage in TAC as yet.

4. What do you like to do outside of work?

One of my major focuses outside of work is the global equity space, with a particular focus on gender. I’m actually attending the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York next month, where I’ll have the opportunity to speak at some events and moderate a panel of the heads of member state delegations, which is very exciting. In terms of hobbies, I enjoy singing and perform at open mic nights, and love watching theatre and rugby union.

5. Can you recommend any book, movie, show or podcast that you have enjoyed recently?

My go-to podcast is No Such Thing as a Fish, a show by the QI elves where they share a fun fact they learnt in the last week; they’re so witty and I’m always chuckling to myself as I listen. The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman is an easy-read comedy/crime series where the lead investigators are a group of octogenarians – I love the way they flesh out the characters of a group often homogenously seen as “grandparents”. Deadloch on Amazon Prime is an amazing (and hilarious) TV show about a series of murders in a fictional town in Tasmania. And finally, the game Connections by the New York Times is my new daily morning activity.