Calling All Resident-Fellow Members!

APA’s annual meeting has been one of the highlights of each year since I was in medical school. I remember feeling so welcomed by everyone I met, from the other students in PsychSIGN to senior members of APA. I gained an understanding that I am part of an extensive community of psychiatrists who are dedicated to their patients, their work, and their profession and that APA brings all of these physicians together. As a resident-fellow member (RFM), I have discovered even more of the opportunities that the organization has to offer, including the many RFM-specific events at the annual meeting.

Some of the offerings for RFMs, including MindGames, the Chief Resident Leadership Conference, and the two student and resident poster sessions, have been around for a number of years (see schedule below). The Resident Track was formally established during the 2014 meeting and consists of sessions designed by and for RFMs. This year, the track includes a number of talks on professional-development topics, ranging from becoming a therapist and getting started in practice to becoming involved in scholarly activity and developing skills for media writing, giving a lecture, and use of social media. There is also a particular focus on physician wellness, including trainee mental health. Dr. Ravi Shah, the RFM trustee-elect, will be co-leading a forum on resident mental health with Dr. Matt Goldman. “Residency is an important time to intervene,” commented Dr. Shah, “since it is a particularly formative moment in a physician’s career in which we begin to establish patterns of balancing work, life, and our own well-being.”

Last year, Dr. Renȳe Binder, APA’s incoming president, joined us for an RFM caucus meeting that became an incredibly productive discussion about technology and communication at APA. In 2015, Dr. Paul Summergrad, APA president, will be holding an official session for conversation with RFMs; I also plan to invite current and incoming leaders from the Board of Trustees and the Assembly to join us at the Resident Resource Center to give RFMs the chance to communicate directly with the organization’s leadership.

Along with serving as a gathering place and lounge (with a comfortable place to charge your phone!), the Resident Resource Center will host many other informal events specifically for RFMs. The Resident Resource Center will be located in in the Toronto Convention Centre in Room 809, Level 800, South Building. Many other career development and networking activities will be scheduled at the center. We will be inviting the leaders of the subspecialty professional organizations to join us for lunch each day, which is always a wonderful opportunity to hear about their career trajectories and how to get involved with the subspecialty groups. We will also be holding a CV bootcamp with the Association of Academic Psychiatrists to help RFMs polish their CVs for fellowship applications or the job hunt. And we will be holding other informal sessions on several topics, potentially including issues such as finances, contract negotiations, residents as teachers, transitioning from resident to attending, and meditation and wellness in medicine. If you have ideas for a session or would like to participate in leading one, please contact me at [email protected].

With the ever-growing number of designated resources and mentoring and leadership opportunities that APA has to offer, this is an amazing time to be an RFM. And the annual meeting in Toronto will be no exception. I can’t wait to see you all there! ■