Psychiatr News October 6, 2006
Volume 41, Number 19, page 28
© 2006 American Psychiatric Association
Do You Love a Great Bargain? APA Membership Fits the Bill
Lysiane Ribeiro, M.D., M.P.H.
Lysiane Ribeiro, M.D., M.P.H., is a PGY-4 resident at Mount Sinai School
of Medicine in New York and the member-in-training trustee on APA's Board of
Trustees.
Being a resident who is
active in APA, I often find myself explaining to a curious colleague why I
believe APA membership is such an important part of my professional
development—and why I believe they should think seriously about joining
the organization as well.
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Photo courtesy of Lysiane Ribeiro, M.D., M.P.H.
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The many benefits that we can take advantage of as members-in-training
(MITs) fall into two general areas of great concern to us—professional
and financial—that, needless to say, often overlap.
On the professional level, APA membership certainly provides a wealth of
opportunities to exchange ideas and experiences with resident colleagues from
training programs across the United States and often with international
colleagues as well. Just as vital as we make decisions about and develop our
psychiatric careers are chances to network with nationally renowned leaders in
the clinical and research realms—the people whose publications we've
read and ideas we've studied.
APA has two major meetings each year: the annual meeting in May and the
Institute on Psychiatric Services in October. Both provide many opportunities
for networking and learning. MITs get a huge discount on registration fees for
both meetings.
At the annual meeting, for example, there are special breakfasts at which
residents and experts in different fields of psychiatry can discuss career
considerations and other issues. A number of workshops are designed to help
residents and early career psychiatrists build the foundation for a successful
practice, while others prepare residents to take their board certification
exams.
Another membership benefit I have found particularly valuable is free
online access to the Webcast Principles of Psychodynamic
Psychotherapy by Glen Gabbard, M.D., and Lucy Puryear, M.D., which comes
with three 20-minute video lectures. MITs also can access at no charge APA's
Annual Meeting Online Library of scientific sessions. The library has been
particularly useful to me when I wanted to attend sessions scheduled at the
same time or review key issues and findings in more detail. It is also
valuable for MITs who are not able to attend the annual meeting.
Since building a good relationship with a mentor is so crucial to us as we
lay the groundwork for our careers, the online mentorship network that
connects psychiatry residents with experienced clinicians and researchers is
also a valuable resource APA provides for MITs.
One exciting door that APA membership has opened for me is the chance to
have a say in the association's policymaking process. As the MIT trustee, I
have a vote on all matters before the Board of Trustees. The MIT trustee-elect
serves as an ex officio member of the Board for a year before stepping up to
MIT trustee.
The Board also has a nonvoting representative from the Committee of
Residents and Fellows and representatives from several of the fellowship
programs that APA cosponsors.
But there are ample additional opportunities to have a voice in the
Association. Every one of APA's seven geography-based sections known as Areas
has both an MIT representative and a deputy representative to the APA
Assembly, which meets twice a year—once in Washington, D.C., and once
before the annual meeting.
In addition, for residents who want to make a contribution at the local
level, many of APA's district branches have a member-in-training
representative in their governance structure.
Of course, being residents, financial issues are never far from our minds,
and I am convinced that APA gives residents good value in exchange for our
dues dollars.
Speaking of those dues dollars, residents get a significant reduction on
APA dues, with their national dues waived during their first year of
membership, a practice also followed by most APA district branches. (APA
requires that psychiatrists join both the national organization as well as
their local district branch.) After that residents pay $80 in annual dues and
reduced district branch dues.
APA also gives its members access to free online CME opportunities and
posts valuable advice for negotiating such complex practice issues as HIPAA
compliance and the move to electronic health records. And there's more. All
members receive Psychiatric News and the American Journal of
Psychiatry free and can request a free subscription to Psychiatric
Services. Also, MITs are eligible for a 25 percent discount on book and
journal purchases from American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.
So I hope you can see why I often end up winded when I talk about what a
great value APA is for its very modest dues dollars. I hope you will maintain
your memberships once you finish your residency and encourage your colleagues
to join as well.
To obtain a membership application, contact the APA Answer Center at
(888) 35-PSYCH, send an e-mail to
apa{at}psych.org,
or click on the "Join APA" section of APA's Web site at
<www.psych.org>.
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