CANDIDATE FOR AREA 1 TRUSTEE: Robert Feder, M.D.
Distinguished Fellow
If elected Area 1 Trustee, I will focus my efforts on:
Ensuring that the needs and interests of Area 1 are acted on by the APA Board of Trustees
Area 1 has always been a leader in formulating APA policy and new initiatives. I plan to strongly support any Assembly action papers initiated by Area 1 reps that are brought to the Board for final approval. I will also be a strong advocate for the specific needs of our Area, including ongoing support to our fine academic institutions, help for our struggling community mental health systems, and help for our members in private practice who continue to struggle to maintain their existence in an era of managed care.
Increasing the role of Canadian members in APA
Our Canadian members have much to teach Americans about psychiatry in a single-payer system, as well as unique and fresh academic perspectives. Canadian membership is vital to APA as we strive to keep membership numbers up. I will strive to increase the Canadians' voice and to make sure that they are getting what they want from APA.
Ensuring the fiscal strength of APA
A strong future for psychiatry requires a strong APA. A strong APA requires fiscal strength in the organization. I will work to help identify new sources of income for APA and to reduce unnecessary expenditures related to redundancy and inefficiency.
Fighting nonphysician prescribing
I believe that allowing psychologists, nurse practitioners, and other nonphysicians to prescribe is the greatest current threat to our patients' safety and the greatest threat to the role of the psychiatric professional. I pledge to see that APA continues to do all it possibly can to fight this threat.
Ensuring that APA plays an important role in designing a new American health care system
Both patients and health care providers are becoming increasingly critical of our current for-profit insurance-based system. With such an increasing loss of faith, some change in the system is likely to happen in the near future. It is vitally important that physicians play a key role in designing any new system if it is to succeed. It is also vitally important that psychiatrists be involved in this effort, and that APA be the conduit for that representation.
Increasing support to community mental health systems
Community mental health systems in most states are in such dire need of support that they cannot wait for the overall redesign of the American health care system mentioned above. Community mental health systems serve our sickest and neediest patients and must get help now if they and their patients are to survive.
Restoring faith in clinical psychiatric research through increased academic control and government funding
With an increase in the proportion of psychiatric research funded by pharmaceutical companies has come a growing mistrust of clinical psychiatric research in general. We must strive to put academic control and federal funding back in the central roles they deserve to ensure unbiased research and safe and efficacious treatments.
I have the experience and training necessary to accomplish these goals. After graduating from the Yale residency program, I have practiced in a wide variety of clinical settings, including private and public inpatient, partial hospitalization, and outpatient programs. I also served as the medical director of a provider-owned behavioral health managed-care company and have a thorough knowledge of the economics of mental health treatment. Having served APA in various official capacities for over 25 years (including president of the New Hampshire District Branch, New Hampshire rep to the Assembly, member of the national and Assembly Nominating Committees, and member of the Council on Advocacy and Public Policy), I know how APA functions and how to make it function even better.
Primary Professional Activities and Sources of Income
Professional Activities
100%—Private practice of adult and adolescent psychiatry
Income
100%—Private practice of adult and adolescent psychiatry
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Published online: 5 December 2008
Published in print: December 5, 2008
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