Dr. Poojajeet Khaira is a psychiatry resident physician, educator, and nationally recognized advocate for mental health equity, culturally informed care, and physician safety. She currently serves as the incoming Academic Chief Resident at MetroHealth/Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where she also represents psychiatry trainees on hospital-wide safety, quality, and graduate medical education committees.
At the national level, Dr. Khaira is the Chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Assembly Committee of Resident-Fellow Members (ACORF) and a Leadership Fellow with the APA Foundation. She has authored numerous APA Action Papers on topics including suicide prevention, safety in residency training, and culturally competent care. Many of her proposals have been adopted as official APA policy, helping to shape the national landscape of psychiatric education and practice.
Dr. Khaira is the co-founder of the inaugural Sikh Mental Health Summit, a groundbreaking national initiative focused on reducing stigma, building community-centered resources, and promoting culturally grounded mental wellness within the Sikh community. This work reflects her broader commitment to increasing representation, visibility, and healing within underserved and underrepresented populations.
She also holds leadership roles at the state and city levels, including as Chair of the Ohio Psychiatric Physicians Association (OPPA) Resident-Fellow Member Committee, Chair of the OPPA Social Media Committee, and Secretary of the Cleveland Psychiatry Society. In these roles, she has developed educational campaigns, launched mentorship initiatives, and organized advocacy and training events for medical students and resident physicians.
Dr. Khaira has extensive experience in policy advocacy, having engaged with legislators at both the state and federal levels to promote mental health equity, physician safety, and access to care. She is also an accomplished educator and speaker, regularly teaching medical students and psychiatry residents on topics such as documentation, agitated patient management, suicide risk assessment, and trauma-informed care. She has presented at national conferences, virtual town halls, and advocacy panels across organized medicine and psychiatry.
Blending her lived experience as a Sikh American with deep institutional engagement, Dr. Khaira’s work is rooted in visibility, representation, and community empowerment. With a deep commitment to public service, interfaith dialogue, and culturally responsive care, Dr. Khaira uses her platform to amplify Sikh voices in healthcare, advance equity in mental health systems, and help shape a more inclusive future in medicine.