APA Provides Members With Innovative CME Offerings

APA members who attend this year's annual meeting in Toronto in May will be able to take advantage of continuing medical education (CME) programs that provide a strong foundation for meeting maintenance of certification (MOC) requirements.

Annual meeting participants will be able to choose from 101 excellent CME courses (see page 19). Course faculty will present the most up-to-date research findings and clinical information and their applications to psychiatric practice.

Leading psychotherapy experts will, for example, offer participants the opportunity to refresh skills in interviewing and psychotherapy. Innovative courses will give participants an opportunity to advance their technological knowledge of tools such as the Computer-Assisted Diagnostic Interview and handheld personal digital assistants.

There will be 16 new courses to supplement the ones that have been popular in past years. Also, we will be offering new courses in home psychiatric treatment as an alternative to hospitalization, cognitive-behavioral therapy, couples therapy, neurocircuitry, treatment of borderline personality, and more. Other new courses will explore issues such as how spirituality and“ world view” can enhance clinical practice, and how yoga can play an important role in modern psychiatry.

A new course on using standardized patients in medical education will be offered by the University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry's research group. Paula Ravitz, M.D., and other faculty will offer a one-day interviewing course using actors who have been trained by Dr. Brian Hodges, one of the world's leading experts on medical education using standardized patients, as well as Dr. Ravitz and Nancy McNaughton, M.Ed. These actors have been trained to portray patients with psychiatric disorders and are used to teach medical students and residents about interviewing and communication, as well as diagnostic and treatment issues, to improve their skills.

We believe this is an outstanding opportunity to bring the standardized patient experience into CME. Attendees will be able to practice interviewing skills using these patients under the observation of University of Toronto psychiatry faculty. Patient surveys have repeatedly shown that even experienced physicians need periodic educational experiences to keep their communication and information-gathering skills sharp, just as they do with medical knowledge and patient care.

Along with the new courses, the annual meeting will continue to offer courses that are past favorites. We are very fortunate to present again the teachings of leaders in the field such as Drs. Howard Book, Edward Coffey, Otto Kernberg, Jose Maldonado, Jerrold Post, Phillip Resnick, and Shawn Shea, among others.

CME courses provide an excellent opportunity to reconsider and deepen essential skills of our profession and equip ourselves for the challenges of the future.

Courses are designed to emphasize educational content, are presented in a creative way, and offer ample opportunity for interaction between participant and faculty. The quality of audiovisual aids, handouts, and references is carefully evaluated to ensure that they are both relevant and up to date.

Be sure to take advantage of the opportunity for early enrollment in CME courses to avoid the disappointment of finding the course of your choice filled before the annual meeting begins.

These are among other notable programs available for your continuing education needs:

Members have completed more than 537 online courses for CME credit since the practice guideline programs were established as a free member service in March 2004.

As always, we like to hear from you. If you have questions or comments about these or other APA programs, please contact me by e-mail at [email protected].▪