Alumni/ae Spotlight

Dr. Aradhana A. (Bela) Sood, MD, FAACAP, MSHA ('06)

Dr. Aradhana A. (Bela) Sood is a Professor of Psychiatry at VCU and Chair of the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the VCU Medical Center. She is also Medical director of the Virginia Treatment Center for Children. She received her Medical Degree in 1979 from Jiwaji University, in Gwalior, India. After finishing a residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology in India, she married and moved to the US in 1983. She then chose a residency in Psychiatry at the University of Missouri (1986) and went on to specialize in child psychiatry with a Fellowship from The Ohio State University (1988).

She moved to the Richmond, VA area in 1988, and began her rise to prominence at the VCU Medical Center (formerly, Medical College of Virginia). Her proactive approach in motivating and changing the state of pediatric mental health has made her an expert source for academic and clinical research initiatives and quality assurance in the field. Her hard work and dedication, however, have not gone unnoticed. Among the many honors received, the two most recent have been the Professional Achievement Award from the Women in Science, Dentistry, and Medicine for her special contributions, dedication, leadership, mentorship and accomplishments at the VCU School of Medicine (2007) and the University Distinguished Service Award from Virginia Commonwealth University. Most recently she was appointed, by Governor Tim Kaine, to the Independent Review Panel of the Virginia Tech Massacre. Governor Kaine went on to state that Dr. Sood is “(Virginia’s) preeminent child psychiatrist.” In 2006, Dr. Sood also received the YWCA’s Most Outstanding Woman in the Health & Science category.

Dr. Sood is passionate about raising awareness on issues ranging from accessibility and fragmentation of psychiatric care to the growing need for educating the family physician/pediatrician in mental health diagnoses. This passion is what motivated her to pursue a Masters of Science in Health Administration at VCU. Blessed with impeccable organizational skills and an inherent value for ongoing education, Dr. Sood felt the need to learn and understand the policy and financial issues that continue to plague the health sector. Today, through the help of a solid support system and strong time management skills, the MSHA has provided Dr. Sood that “voice” and the enhanced credibility needed in advocating for the change she hopes to see. Her advice for future health administrators are to establish good goals and make principled choices and then follow through to accomplish those goals. She assures those pursuing the MSHA that “the ends will surely justify the means” and encourages those to believe that change is possible.

Dr. Bela Sood is married to Dr. Rakesh Sood MD and is the mother of three sons, Rishi, Shawn, and Ashwin and a cat Raja. Her hobbies are singing, gardening, and reading. She resides in Midlothian, Virginia and has been a resident of Virginia for 20 years.

"I know there is a budget shortfall, but I am not suggesting caviar and champagne, but just meat and potatoes to nourish and sustain a system that has been so neglected,"

- Dr. Bela Sood, on reforming Virginia’s mental health system before the Winter General Assembly