By Allison Frederick, Health Science Relations

" Every day is different and unpredictable," says associate professor of psychiatry Catherine Woodman, M.D. "My job has a lot of variety. It's great. I get up every morning and I'm excited to go to work."

Woodman is a member of the Human Subjects Internal Review Board. She has also served six years as director of residency training in psychiatry and as co-director of the family medicine-psychiatry combined training program.

" It is a very rewarding and wonderful opportunity during a period of tremendous change," she says.

Woodman enjoys being involved in the educational and administrative aspects of the program and is able to maintain contact with many of the residents that stay in eastern Iowa. She says others are easy to keep track of because many rely on her to provide letters of recommendation when they relocate.

" It's neat to see people five years later who have active and happy lives," Woodman says.

Residency education has been a part of Woodman's life since she was involved as a resident herself. The Pasadena, CA. native attended Brown University School of Medicine in Providence, RI, before completing psychiatry residency at the University of California, San Francisco Valley Medical Center program in 1989.

When Woodman initially considered psychiatry, she said the media's misperception of the field played a role in turning her away from pursuing a career in the field.

" Psychiatrists are portrayed as having little to no real medical skills. Psychiatrists in movies always seem to harm patients more than they help," Woodman says.

But Woodman found it to be quite different upon the completion of her first medical school rotation. She took a new stance and now finds psychiatry to be "one of the few areas of medicine where there are rewarding outcomes and treatable illnesses."

" It's an exciting field," Woodman says. "I get the opportunity to positively impact people and improve their quality of life."

Woodman and her husband, who works in pulmonary critical care, moved to Iowa City 14 years ago when her husband considered the UI residency program. They now live with their four dogs and four children, ages 15, 13, 11, and 9.

" I never thought I would be in Iowa," Woodman admits. "We love the community because it offers a wide range of activities for us and our children."

On a typical day, Woodman can be found supervising in clinic, seeing patients, or actively involved in research. Among her areas of interest are psychiatric predictors of outcome in cardiovascular disease, anxiety and transplant psychiatry disorders, medical education, and health services outcomes research.

Woodman also became "engulfed in the world of childhood cancer" when her youngest son was diagnosed with a brain tumor four years ago.

" We are incredibly lucky," Woodman says. "He is currently in remission and doing well."

Her medical background continues to enable Woodman to take an active role in her child's care and be positive about research. The process of informed consent and making sure research is safe for human subjects are areas of particular interest.

In her spare time, Woodman is an avid reader and also enjoys being outdoors, hiking and camping with her family. Other interests include a variety of activities: gourmet cooking, fiber art, photography, and calligraphy.