Insider’s Guide to APA This Year
Welcome to a new academic year! July is an exciting month for all of us. For our incoming residents, this marks the beginning of an incredible journey of becoming a psychiatrist. For the rest of us, we are proud that we have survived another year of sleepless nights on call and living on a resident’s salary.
I know our lives can be so hectic and overwhelming, and becoming involved in an organization like APA may seem daunting at first. But don’t fret—my goal as your resident-fellow member (RFM) trustee this year is to make APA more personable and readily accessible to you. To start, I want to share with you some tips on how to get involved. I hope you find amazing opportunities through APA that will enrich your training and career.
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Attend IPS: The Mental Health Services Conference this year. It focuses on the practice of psychiatry and health care delivery systems, which directly impact our future career. I wish I had known about the conference earlier in my residency since these fundamental skills are often not taught during our residency training. The conference is also smaller and more intimate than the Annual Meeting, making it easy for RFMs to network with the experts and leaders in our field. Best of all, RFMs can receive reimbursement for their registration by becoming a moderator for three sessions at the conference. This year, it will take place October 6 to 9 in Washington, D.C. (More information here.)
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Look into applying for APA fellowships early. APA wants to attract a diverse pool of talented RFMs to become our future leaders. Every year, about 100 fellowships, ranging from public psychiatry to scholarly research to congressional leadership, are open for application. An APA fellowship experience is truly a privilege, but the application process can be highly competitive. My advice is to reach out to current or former APA fellows and APA administration for tips before applying. If your application was not accepted in the past, please continue to stay involved. We welcome returning applicants and will help you find a way to reach your academic pursuit.
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Write and publish in the American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) Residents’ Journal and Psychiatric News Residents’ Forum. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be an excellent writer to get published. APA has editors who are happy to help revise your draft, refine your ideas, and get it published. We are constantly looking for RFMs’ unique perspective on emergent issues and interesting cases. Katherine Pier, M.D., is the editor-in-chief for the AJP Residents’ Journal, and I am editor of the Psychiatric News Residents’ Forum. Please keep your eyes peeled for article submission criteria, as they are different. We would love to hear from you!
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Check out SET for Success online modules for free. How many times do we tell ourselves to read a textbook on psychopharmacology when we get home? Many, many times. But sometimes, we just don’t want to open a book after work. And that is completely OK! APA has launched the SET for Success online program, and it should go a long way in helping to alleviate that internal conflict. Now you can watch short videos on various topics, such as the latest advances in psychiatry, psychopharmacology, and the business of medicine through APA’s Learning Center. Furthermore, the program itself was built on ACGME core competencies and psychiatry milestones, and you can create a transcript of the video lectures you have watched. For residents in the 100% Club, your program director can log in to view them for free. Like most membership benefits, these lectures are also free for RFMs.
No matter which path you take to get involved with APA, know that you are a valued member of this organization. You have a voice as an RFM that can shape the organization and inspire others. As your RFM trustee this year, I hope to guide you through finding your passion and academic pursuit through our organization. ■
Have a question or concern? I’d like to hear from you. Contact me at [email protected].
Biographies
Stella Cai, M.D., is APA’s resident-fellow member trustee and a child psychiatry fellow at the Los Angeles County+University of Southern California Medical Center.
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Published online: 11 July 2016
Published in print: July 2, 2016 – July 15, 2016
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