Board Hears From Military, Black Psychiatrists

At each of its meetings, the APA Board of Trustees invites district branch leaders or presidents of groups representing minority psychiatrists to inform the Trustees about what’s on the minds of the psychiatrists they represent. At last month’s meeting Theodore Nam, M.D., a U.S. Army colonel and president of the Society of Uniformed Services Psychiatrists—a district branch for psychiatrists in the military—and Michelle Clark, M.D., chair of the Committee of Black Psychiatrists, took the Board up on its invitation.

Nam thanked APA for establishing a district branch for military psychiatrists, noting that having such an organizational home has done a lot to foster connections among these psychiatrists, who are scattered around the globe. He noted that the group is planning a Web site for its members to make communication easier. He said that he and his colleagues are particularly concerned about improving mental illness prevention efforts and long-term-care options.

Clark described several recent accomplishments and activities of the Committee of Black Psychiatrists, including participating with the National Institute of Mental Health’s Committee on Child and Adolescent Development to create a post -9/11 resource document for African-American parents. The committee has also established links with the National Medical Association Section on Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and with the Black Psychiatrists of America. She expressed concern as well that APA’s commitment to black psychiatrists and minority patients may be waning, a belief that is reflected in the fact that fewer than half of African-American psychiatrists belong to APA.