The Department of Psychiatry residency program elected two residents to lead next year’s record group.
Jake Givens, MD, currently a third-year resident, and Charlotte Ritchie, a second-year resident, have been chosen to lead next year’s group, which is set to have more than 20 residents.
Dr. Givens will be chief resident, and Dr. Ritchie will be the junior chief resident.
“The residents have voted, and the results were unanimously confirmed by our residency leadership and core faculty,” said Daniel Gih, MD, Department of Psychiatry Vice-Chair for Education.
Gih said their first responsibilities include welcoming the incoming residents, scheduling, and hosting the May 23, 2025, graduation ceremony, which will honor internship completion and celebrate the departing PGY-4 residents. Two of the departing residents are current co-chiefs Max Lydiatt, MD, and Olivia Ochuba, MD. Dr. Gih said the two provided “excellent leadership.”
Dr. Lydiatt matched with a consultation/liaison fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. The fellowship will be one-year long.
“Coming into psychiatry, I always really liked the medical complexity of psychiatry,” Dr. Lydiatt said. “Working in consultation/liaison helps me stay connected to my love of medicine. It allows me to stay in the inpatient hospital environment. Being in that hospital setting, you get to build relationships with the other doctors, and I really enjoy that as well. You get to be a part of some great teams.”
Dr. Ochuba signed a contract with Sanford Health in Bismarck, North Dakota. She will be working in general adult outpatient.
“It will be all telehealth, so I will still be able to stay in the Omaha area,” Dr. Ochuba said.
Drs. Givens and Ritchie have strong ties to Nebraska. Dr. Givens was born and raised in Omaha, and Dr. Ritchie has been living in Omaha since 2019, when she started her medical school at Creighton.
Howard Liu, MD, MBA, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry looks forward to working with Drs. Givens and Ritchie in their new leadership roles.
“The chief roles are essential to the culture of our residency program and to provide an important voice for trainees on our leadership team,” Dr. Liu said. “I want to thank Dr. Max Lydiatt and Dr. Olivia Ochuba for their outstanding service in the last year. They helped our department in so many ways, and we couldn’t have asked for better leadership.”