News and Notes for APA District Branches/State Associations

March 2022

What’s New at the APA

• Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A., was elected by APA members as the organization’s next President-Elect. He is the first openly gay psychiatrist elected to the presidency of the APA. Dr. Levounis is professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and associate dean for professional development at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He is also the chief of service at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. You can read more about Dr. Levounis’ presidential priorities, and see more results from APA elections here.
• The APA Foundation (APAF) has donated $5000 to three organizations   in Kentucky that are providing aid in the aftermath of the tornadoes last December: Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund, State Street Baptist Church and Kentucky Legal Aid. Additionally, the APAF gave $1,000 to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City to aid relief efforts for the tragic Bronx apartment fire in January. You can read more about these disaster relief efforts and the APAF here.
• The American Psychiatric Association Foundation was awarded a $379,200 grant from the Brave of Heart Fund to help address the well-being and burnout concerns of frontline healthcare workers. APAF’s Center on Workplace Mental Health will use the grant to support programs to address physician burnout and develop resources on best practices to connect frontline healthcare workers with mental health care. You can read more about the grant and the APAF’s programs and initiatives here.
• One in three American’s worry about social media’s impact on their mental health, according to results from APA’s latest public opinion poll. Nearly half of respondents also said that social media has had a negative impact on society overall. Respondents were slightly more positive when asked about their own personal experience with social media. You can see more about American’s feelings on how social media impacts their mental health here, and read the results in Spanish here. 

Key Dates and Observances

APA Communications staff maintains a calendar of key dates, observances and events at APA and in the world of mental health in general. The calendar is kept up to date a few months in advance. You can view the calendar and keep track of important mental health dates and observances here.

Social Media Assets

APA is sharing infographics on disorders and its  Healthy Minds Monthly polls for  distribution on social media. Take a look at what’s available here.

March Course of the Month – Brain Networks in Psychiatric Disorders

The human brain is a complex system of networks that support a wide range of adaptive goal-relevant behaviors. This course discusses recent advances in our understanding of human brain networks and their disruption in psychiatric disorders, how dynamic network models provide a unifying framework for understanding key features of major psychiatric disorders, how brain network models provide critical insights into sources of variability, and more.

Click here to access the Course of the Month and sign up for updates about this free member benefit.

Registration Now Open

APA is gathering in-person for the first time since 2019, in the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans! Join APA in-person May 21-25 for the 2022 Annual Meeting, the premier psychiatry event of the year. With more than 300 educational sessions covering 50+ topics, and up to 30 CME, APA’s Annual Meeting is the best place to connect with colleagues, get the latest in scientific advances, explore new exhibitor products and services, and meet your certification and licensure requirements. 

This year's in-person program includes:

• 3 plenary sessions featuring distinguished keynote speakers
• 300 scientific sessions with live Q&A with presenters
• A new Clinical Updates Track featuring renowned experts presenting on the clinical issues within the field of psychiatry
• Poster Hall with up to 1,000 posters

Why attend the APA Annual Meeting? Hear from this year’s Scientific Program Committee in the SPC Launch Video.

New Virtual Exhibit from the APA Foundation: Central State Hospital

The project will display, describe, and discuss primary source documents, photographs, public laws, news articles, admission, and treatment data from the first mental hospital in the US exclusively for African Americans. The effort is to increase public and professional knowledge of the evolution of residential care for African Americans and the impact of structural racial bias.

https://legacy.psychiatry.org/Historic-Highlights/Exhibitions

Join APAF for the 2022 APA Foundation Benefit and 30th Anniversary Celebration

Monday, May 23rd 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

The Riverboat Louis Armstrong, New Orleans, LA

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Please join APA leaders, colleagues, partners and friends to celebrate the APA Foundation’s 30th Anniversary during the 2022 Annual Meeting in the Big Easy. Enjoy a dazzling array of local cuisine, New Orleans culture and entertainment on the Riverboat Louis Armstrong - the biggest venue on the Mississippi!

Purchase tickets here,  or visit 2022APAFBenefit.eventbrite.com 

• Early Bird (through April 1^st ): $175 
• General Admission: $200

All proceeds support APAF programs and our vision: A Mentally Healthy Nation – Where We Live, Learn, Work, Worship and Play.

Join AMNet: An Addiction Medicine Practice-Based Research Network

Join APA, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, Friends Research Institute, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse in creating AMNet, an addiction medicine practice-based research network. By joining, you will get free access to PsychPRO, APA’s patient portal, to generate patient-reported outcomes data. You can virtually engage with your patients, track their successes, inform quality improvement efforts, and create reports for your stakeholders. You will also receive a $1,000 honorarium; a tablet computer; and free CME courses.

https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/registry/amnet

Podcast: Mental Health & Burnout in Frontline Healthcare Workers

Burnout has been an issue for healthcare workers far before the COVID-19 pandemic. So, how are our frontline healthcare workers, who often didn't have good mental health to begin with, coping amidst all of this trauma?

Joining us is psychiatrist Dr. Jessica ("Jessi") Gold, MD, MS. Dr. Gold is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine, specializing in physician wellness, medical education, and college mental health. In this episode, she talks about healthcare workers' mental health and steps health systems and mental health professionals can take to support them better.

https://apafdn.org/news-events/mentally-healthy-nation-podcast

What Is APA Doing in the Nation's Capital for Your Patients and Practice?

APA's Department of Government Relations has released its latest update on APA's advocacy activities regarding policies and regulations that affect your patients and profession.

https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/advocacy/february-2022-advocacy-update

Subscribe to future advocacy alerts: http://cqrcengage.com/psychorg/app/register?1&m=39947

Structural Racism Accountability Committee

The APA BOT Structural Racism Accountability Committee (SRAC) was formed in 2021 to ensure the recommendations of the 2020-2021 APA Presidential Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry (TFSR) are carried out.

APA’s Board of Trustees (BOT) approved 18 actions recommended by the TFSR along with six directives on issues that need to be updated and monitored by the SRAC. The SRAC will evaluate their success, make recommendations for improvements, and accomplish the other objectives that were noted in the final task force report (.pdf).
https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/structural-racism-task-force/structural-racism-accountability-committee

Members Invited to Share Feedback About Their APA Experience via Survey

To understand the changes that have taken place in psychiatry over the last few years, the APA administration is conducting a survey to gather feedback. Results of the survey will help APA better understand your experiences and guide the future strategy of the Association.

An email invitation to participate in the survey has been sent from Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., APA’s CEO and medical director with a link to participate online. While the results of the survey will be anonymous, the survey link is specifically for the member to whom it is sent.

The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. All APA members, except for medical students and international members, will be included in this survey round. Medical students and international members will be invited to participate in surveys distributed later this year, tailored to their needs.

Please consider participating. If you have questions about the survey, contact APA’s Membership Department at membership@psych.org.