Psychiatr News March 16, 2007
Volume 42, Number 6, page 1
© 2007 American Psychiatric Association
APA Members Vote Stotland Next President-Elect
Ken Hausman
The victorious candidates in this year's APA election include two
members who will join the APA Board of Trustees for the first time and several
Board veterans.
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Nada Stotland, M.D. (top), has won the election to be APA's next
president-elect. She will assume that post at the conclusion of the APA's 2007
annual meeting in May, at which time Carolyn Robinowitz, M.D. (bottom), will
become president.
Credit: Alma Herndon
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APA members have voted to make Chicago psychiatrist Nada Stotland, M.D.,
their next president-elect. Stotland, who will complete a term as APA vice
president in May, defeated Spencer Eth, M.D., of New York with 58.8 percent of
the vote.
"Becoming the president of APA is a great honor and a great
responsibility," Stotland told Psychiatric News. "Here
are some of the things I plan to do while entrusted with that role.
"I will work closely with mental health advocacy groups and the
leaders of our fellow professionals. Psychologists shouldn't prescribe, but
they should work with us as we fight to get people with mental illness out of
prisons, off the streets, and into quality care. Those fortunate enough to
have health insurance should get the services that insurance is supposed to
cover. Our task force on psychiatric care in underserved areas will continue
to provide ideas and tools for our members in states with large rural and
inner-city populations.
"I will work to make the composition of APA components and leadership
positions look more like the composition of our diverse membership and our
population, and I will ask you to identify qualified candidates for those
positions.
"We know what we don't like about the practice of psychiatry at
present. Now we need to decide what kind of general health care and mental
health care system we want. We have been reactive; we need to be proactive.
APA should help to shape and prepare us for the psychiatry of five and 10
years from now. As a presidential project, I will convene a panel of experts
in policy and prognostication to give us a basis for an informed and serious
associationwide discussion.
"I will continue to speak on behalf of APA and to help our members
communicate effectively in all important print and broadcast forums, local and
national. The more we convey the message that we are patient centered and
public-health minded, the more effective we will be.
"I will continue to develop ways to make the workings of APA ever
more transparent and comprehensible to our members.
"I will listen carefully to your observations and suggestions.
"I will remember that we became psychiatrists to provide care for
people who are suffering. Ultimately, it's all about the patients."
Stotland has served in a wide range of posts at APA, including terms as
chair of the Committee on Women and the Joint Commission on Public Affairs.
She has also been speaker of the Assembly and served on the Board of Trustees
as secretary-treasurer and is now APA vice president.
In the contest for vice president, Carol Bernstein, M.D., of New York
outpolled Renée Binder, M.D., of San Francisco in the closest of the
races in this year's election. Bernstein garnered 52 percent of the vote. She
was APA treasurer from 2000 to 2004.
Three candidates vied for the at-large trustee position in this election:
Roger Peele, M.D., of Rockville, Md., Joseph Rubin, M.D., of Portland, Maine,
and Jagannathan Srinivasaraghavan, M.D., of Anna, Ill. Peele was victorious,
receiving 42.8 percent of the votes in the first round of ballot counting and
56.6 percent in the second round.
In races with more than two candidates APA uses a "preferential
voting system" in which voters are asked to rank the candidates in the
order in which they would like to see them win. If no candidate garners a
majority in the first round of counting, the candidate with the lowest number
of votes is eliminated—in this case that was Srinivasaraghavan—and
the second-choice votes on the ballots cast for him or her are distributed to
the remaining candidates. Peele received a majority after the redistributed
votes were tallied.
The preferential voting mechanism was also used to determine who the next
member-in-training trustee-elect would be. Lauren sitzer, M.D., a resident in
the Harvard-Longwood program, outpolled Chris Esguerra, M.D., of Mountain
View, Calif., and Samantha Shlakman, M.D., of Washington, D.C. Sitzer received
44.1 percent of the votes in the first round of counting and 60 percent in the
second round.
Two Area races were also held in the recent election. In Area 3 John
Urbaitis, M.D., of Baltimore won 61.3 percent of the vote to 38.7 percent for
Houshang Hamadani, M.D., of Allentown, Pa. Area 3 includes New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.
In Area 6, which encompasses all of the California district branches,
Thomas Ciesla, M.D., of Santa Monica, Calif. won a second term on the Board,
besting Ravi Goklaney, M.D., of Bakersfield, Calif., by 63.7 percent to 36.3
percent.
The newly elected officers and trustees will take office at the close of
APA's 2007 annual meeting in San Diego. Also at that time President-Elect
Carolyn Robinowitz, M.D., will become president, and Member-in-Training
Trustee-Elect Abigail Donovan, M.D., will become the member-in-training
trustee. (Unlike the member-in-training trustee, the member-in-training
trustee-elect does not have a vote on the Board.)
A total of 9,231 APA members, or 29 percent of those eligible to vote, cast
ballots in this year's election. That total is down from 32.4 percent in last
year's election.
The online voting option continues to grow in popularity among APA voters.
Last year 28.3 percent of ballots were submitted online; this year 32.4
percent were. 
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