APA Council Launches Initiatives to Engage International Psychiatrists

In an effort to step up engagement with international psychiatrists, the APA Council on International Psychiatry developed a pilot program to connect with international poster presenters at APA’s 2017 Annual Meeting in San Diego. Participants included both APA members and nonmembers representing Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Spain, and Taiwan.

Recognizing that international presenters attending the meeting may have few opportunities to interact directly with APA leaders or receive feedback on their research, the council set out to provide them with a richer, more interactive experience. Coordinating the program were council members Bernardo Ng, M.D. (chair), Uyen-Khanh (U.K.) Quang-Dang, M.D., and APA/APAF Fellows Josepha Immanuel, M.D., Jennifer Severe, M.D., and Winfield Tan, M.D. They reviewed the presenters’ research posters before the meeting and then met individually with the participants on site to provide verbal and written feedback about their posters and presentations and to discuss ways that APA could best support their development.

An important outcome of the program was the bidirectional learning exchange between council members and participants, said Severe. “The practice of psychiatry can be very different in different countries, and this initiative gave us the opportunity to share what we do in our health care system.”

The pilot program is just one of several ways that the council is collaborating with international psychiatrists. Another effort is facilitating an increase in the number of sessions at the Annual Meeting on global mental health and psychiatry.

“The council looks forward to identifying additional opportunities to collaborate with our international members,” said Ng. Also, he encourages APA members to join APA’s Caucus on Global Mental Health and Psychiatry and connect with council members directly.

APA members can join the caucus through their member profile on APA’s website. The names of all council members can be accessed here; email addresses can be found in the Member Directory, accessible at the same page. ■