Department of
Medical Education

Chris Feghali, MD

Name: Chris Feghali, MD

Board Certification: Pending examination

Medical School: West Virginia University School of Medicine

Residency: Psychiatry, West Virginia University

Faculty Rank: Assistant Professor 

Special Clinical/Research Interests: outpatient care, psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychopharmacology, mood and anxiety disorders, OCD, telepsychiatry, Epic Physician Builder

Is there a particular population of students (e.g., ethnicity, spiritual, sexual orientation) that you would particularly like to advise?

No.

What does a typical day in the life of a physiatrist include?

My role is primarily outpatient. Our clinic appointments at Healthy Minds – Chestnut Ridge are somewhat unique in that we room our patients ourselves, into our own offices. I do mix of medication management and psychotherapy appointments, often in the same visit. In academia my day is pretty varied—I am often deep in emails, research articles, my patient inbox, or working on building new projects into Epic. The best parts of my day are getting to teach with and learn from others.

What is the biggest challenge of being a physiatrist?

It can be hard to divorce yourself from your work, as it affects your very way of thinking. Thinking too much about cases can make it easy to feel both powerless and enmeshed with your patients. But that’s also the beauty of it!

How do you foresee physiatry changing over the next 20 years?

Interventional psychiatry, particularly neuromodulation modalities like TMS, ketamine treatments, and ECT, seem poised for expansion. The horizon includes the use of psychedelic agents, artificial intelligence, and pharmacogenomic testing—all in the present and very near future. It’s hard to imagine beyond that, but I think are chances of being replaced by robots are pretty small!

What advice would you give a student who is considering a psychiatry residency?

It can be hard to decide if a specialty is “for you” before getting to practice it, though psychiatry feels like something that can be difficult if your heart isn’t behind it. Shadowing us and reading about psychotherapy concepts feels like a great place to start!