Psychiatr News April 21, 2006
Volume 41, Number 8, page 11
© 2006 American Psychiatric Association
CANDIDATES FOR RECORDER
Sheila Judge, M.D.
Biographical Statement
Scranton, Pa., is my
hometown, and I grew up amid a loving, extended family. I lived, worked, and
studied in Belgium for 10 years, between B.A. and M.A. degrees in literature
and art at Pitt and Columbia, and Medical College of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia. Psychiatry residency was at the Institute of Pennsylvania
Hospital, where I was chief resident and attending psychiatrist. Since 1988, I
have maintained a private practice in general and adolescent psychiatry and
psychoanalysis.
I served as director of medical student education at the Institute, and
also supervised and taught courses for the residents, and was active in AAP
and ADMSEP. I am on the faculties of the University of Pennsylvania and the
Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, and on the Committee on University and
Medical Education of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
In 2003, I became regional medical director for mental health care in the
Philadelphia prison system, where I took on the responsibility of reorganizing
a large system with four treatment levels, earning accreditation by NCCHC. I
am now at the Horsham Clinic Child and Adolescent Acute Partial
Hospitalization Program.
I've been on the Executive Council of the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society
almost continually since 1987 and was DB president in 1998-99. I chaired
numerous committees and remain a member of the PPS Ethics and Disaster
committees as well as Assembly rep.
Since 2000, I've served on the APA Scientific Program Committee, chairing
the subcommittees on workshops and clinical case conferences, and was vice
chair of the 2004 annual meeting in New York. Other APA work includes the
Committee on DB Relations, Work Group to Study the Dues, Task Force on Revenue
Sharing, and the APA and Assembly Nominating Committees. For two years I
chaired the Assembly Reference Committee on Enhancing the Scientific Basis of
Psychiatric Care/Governance.
Candidacy Statement
Dear Fellow Psychiatrist: Why do we belong to a professional organization?
The answer used to be collegiality, mutual enrichment, professional identity.
While these are still true, I think the best answer nowadays is advocacy. For
example, when I was president of the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society, we sued
a group of insurers. We improved credentialing practices for our members, and
new federal case law was written, establishing the right of professional
organizations to sue on behalf of their patients. We cannot accomplish as
individuals what we do when we stand together.
Yet one achievement can dim in comparison to constant attempts to undermine
or interfere with good clinical practice, to curtail the crucial flow of
research funding, to legislate what hasn't been earned through rigorous
training. It is rare for a district branch alone to be successful; we look to
APA's Government Relations to help us in Washington and at home. Hundreds of
members volunteer their time to be a part of our system of trustees, councils,
components, and task forces. APA reaches out to partner with other national
organizations advocating for those who cannot possibly counter, on their own,
forces that impinge on care. Our members, through personal service, through
contributions to special APA funds, bring disaster relief to the South, where
we must ensure that offices, clinics, and training programs are
reestablished.
The Assembly consists of voting representatives from every district branch,
every allied organization, minority and underrepresented membership, and
national ECP and MIT delegations. Ideas calling for action in areas of vital
concern to members are brought forth, discussed and debated, and sent
throughout APA. I believe that the Assembly, with its forum for reaching
national consensus, should have an even greater role in the prioritization of
our APA resources—thoughtful prioritization, based on the shared
knowledge of local needs and experiences, the health of our organization, and
considered investment in the future of our profession. And I believe a good
leader facilitates consensus, and promotes and sustains the group will in
forward movement.
There is an evolving trend in our governance that I have seen through
personal experience. In the late 1990s, APA presidents began to invite various
DB presidents-elect to speak to the Board and to convene annual DB officer
orientations. Mutual, direct information exchange was the beginning of
much-needed growth, addressing stagnation in our membership and morale. The
first Committee on District Branch Relations was founded, provisions were made
for equitable infusions of APA funds into local activities, and there is now a
substantial revenue-sharing item embedded in our annual budget. I believe that
every aspect of APA has been going through this process of increasing
relevance to individual members.
I want to continue in this direction, for I believe our strength comes from
our base, from our membership upwards. A strong, well-functioning Assembly is
the organizational epitome of individual expression transformed and enhanced
by group process. I would be honored to serve you well in the office of its
recorder.
Footnotes
THE APA ASSEMBLY will elect a speaker-elect and a recorder at its
May meeting in Toronto. The candidates for these positions were asked to
provide Psychiatric News with biographical and candidacy statements.
These statements are published here to keep APA members informed of the
candidates' views and encourage APA members to contact their Assembly
representatives about the election.
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American Psychiatric Association.
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