Groundbreaking Physicians to Describe Advances in Medical Care

The 2005 APA Institute on Psychiatric Services will feature four medical leaders who will talk about key issues in today's clinical practice.

Dr. Frank D. Ferris has been a leader in pain management for many years. His programs have attracted national recognition and contributed to the enhancement of strategies and techniques that have been adopted throughout the world.

Starting in 2006, California will require that all licensed physicians have at least 12 hours of training in pain management. This requirement is an expression of the staggering problems produced by conflicting views about the management of chronic pain. This pain is a major component of several psychiatric syndromes, including depression. It has been shown that the remaining symptoms in patients who fail to recover from depression are often somatic, mostly pain. Almost half of patients who suffer chronic pain will eventually be diagnosed as suffering a major depression. Freedom from pain accompanies a favorable response to depression treatment.

Dr. Ferris is the medical director of the San Diego Hospice. This clinical research and education facility attracts physicians from many countries, and trainees regularly return to Europe and Asia to practice the newest techniques. We hope that many IPS participants will come to the San Diego Hospice to acquaint themselves with the optimistic and humane practices that are the facility's trademark.

Dr. Rodney Hood is an internist who received his M.D. from the University of California at Davis. Early in his career he showed leadership qualities that were soon recognized by organized medicine. He has written much about the metabolic syndrome with regard to diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. As president of the National Medical Association (NMA), he contributed to the formation of an alliance with other organizations, including the AMA and APA, to promote better diagnostic practices and culturally relevant treatments that could erase disparities in American medicine.

Dr. Hood and Dr. Richard Butcher, another NMA past president, have organized a multicultural clinic that provides advanced treatments to a diverse and impoverished population in San Diego. This clinic already excels in best practices for complications of diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. Dr. Hood and Dr. Butcher will welcome the IPS visitors who may want to learn from their practices.

Dr. Timothy Morris has been a leader in the struggle against asthma in San Diego. He has advanced programs that touch all ages and helps many patients who suffer the multiple medical problems associated with this disease. Dr. Morris has participated in a number of the activities of the American Lung Association, whose community-centered activities have led to environmental changes and early interventions in many sites around San Diego County. One major concern continues to be the San Diego schools, where asthma is the leading cause of absenteeism.

Dr. Morris's activities have much in common with APA's campaigns on the prevention and early treatment of psychiatric disorders. Patients with asthma are excessively represented among those who need psychiatric attention.

Dr. Vivian Dickerson is president of the 47,000-member American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the third woman to hold that position. Dr. Dickerson, who specializes in menopause, is an associate professor of ob/gyn at the University of California, Irvine. She chose obesity as the health theme of her presidency because a large majority of respondents to an ACOG survey said it is a great concern for them.

We are honored that Dr. Dickerson will join us in San Diego. Her favored themes blend with those of our other speakers and greatly contribute to our purpose of bringing to IPS the best and most relevant information about our patients. ▪