APA Represented at Royal College Annual Meeting

Dr. Mike Shooter (left), president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and Steven Sharfstein, M.D., APA president, attend a reception at the annual meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Edinburgh in June. The Royal College is the professional and educational organization for psychiatrists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

The conference attracted about 1,300 delegates, and many countries, both in the developed and the developing world, were represented, according to Dr. John Baird and Dr. Joe Bouch of the Organizing Committee. Sharfstein, along with presidents of psychiatric associations of other countries, was formally presented at a special session and welcomed at a reception for overseas delegates and the conference dinner.

At the heart of the conference was an academic program with many concurrent sessions on all aspects of psychiatry. Among the highlights were a lively debate on whether the increasing numbers of practice guidelines, standards, and policies is leading to improved clinical care; a lecture by Baroness Helena Kennedy, one of the college's new honorary fellows, on the challenges for the profession emerging from civil rights issues; and sessions on mental health aspects of art, literature, and film.

Next year's Royal College annual residential conference will be held in Glasgow July 10 to 13, 2006, and APA members are encouraged to attend.