CANDIDATES FOR MEMBER-IN-TRAINING TRUSTEE-ELECT: Scott Shaffer, M.D.

Throughout medical school and residency, I have been especially passionate about two ideals which, I believe, are vital to the future of psychiatry in this country: humanism and education. As our field continues to expand in an era of incredible scientific discovery, yet be challenged by difficulties ranging from managed care to decreased funding for research, humanism and education must be central tenets in our interactions with medical students, fellow health professionals, and the general public. As memberin-training trustee-elect for the American Psychiatric Association, I hope to be able to make a contribution to APA keeping the importance of humanism and education as a guiding philosophy.

My love of teaching originated from my own determination to acquire knowledge and my passion for sharing this knowledge with others. My earliest teaching experience was tutoring middle school and high school students in various subjects. I then proceeded to teach my fellow medical students medical Spanish as a second year medical student. One of the highlights of my residency career thus far has been the opportunity to teach medical students the mental status exam. As a member of the curriculum committee, I helped restructure a course in evidence based medicine. Throughout all of these experiences, I have become increasingly aware of the richness of teaching and how much I learn by the process of educating others. I believe that it is critical to the practice of psychiatry to be a lifelong learner and teacher, keeping a breast of the latest developments in the field. This self-education plays a vital role in counseling our patients regarding their diagnoses and treatments. It would be my goal as member-in-training trustee-elect to develop innovative methods of sharing this knowledge with our patients, medical colleagues, and trainees.

My feelings about the importance of humanism arise from the experience of growing up with my brother, Matt, who has autism. From an early age, my relationship with him taught me the values of altruism, empathy, and compassion. He has shown me that every person, despite his or her limitations, should be given the opportunity to realize his or her full potential. In addition, the honor of nomination and induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) during medical school instilled in me a sense of responsibility to make the promotion of humanism in medicine a fundamental component of my future career. I coordinated the GHHS induction ceremony, which focused on the humanitarian crisis that developed after Hurricane Katrina. The event was tremendously successful in terms of medical student participation and the speakers involved. The finished product was quite meaningful to me and reinforced the idea that we must not forget the humanistic elements that serve as the foundation of psychiatry.

I am so grateful to belong to a profession that allows me to draw on my love for the life sciences, social sciences, humanities, and education in order to improve the quality of people's lives. As member-in-training trustee-elect, I would consider it a privilege to represent the concerns and interests of all of my fellow trainees and would be dedicated to creating exciting new ways in which to convey themes of humanism and education throughout all aspects of APA.

It would be my goal to ensure that members-in-training feel connected to APA, so that all trainees will have a voice when business is conducted. As member-in-training trustee-elect, I pledge to: