APA to Offer Two Online CME Programs in Lieu of Annual Meeting

APA is offering two new educational programs this spring to help members earn the CME credits they need for licensure and certification and to sharpen their clinical skills.

The first program, called the APA Spring Highlights, will feature headline speakers, subject experts, and thought leaders, some of whom were slated to appear at APA’s Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. The Annual Meeting, which had been scheduled from April 25 to 29, will not take place due to public health concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic.

APA’s Spring Highlights is a two-day online event that will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26, from noon to 5 p.m. The program will begin on Saturday with an Opening Session that includes addresses by APA President Bruce Schwartz, M.D., APA President-elect Jeffrey Geller, M.D., M.P.A., and APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A.

That session will be followed by scientific sessions over two days offering 9 hours of CME content featuring experts in major areas of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. Some of the sessions will focus on supporting clinicians during the current COVID-19 crisis with information about its impact on mental health treatment. APA’s Business Meeting will end the program on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

APA’s Spring Highlights is free to APA members. At press time, the price for nonmembers had not been determined. A forthcoming all-member communication and Psychiatric News Alert will provide details about registration.

Additionally, APA is simultaneously developing the 2020 APA On Demand program. APA Annual Meeting On Demand historically has consisted of scientific sessions from the Annual Meeting with presenter slides synchronized with presenter audio. This year, in the absence of an Annual Meeting, APA On Demand will feature presentations that will be recorded remotely over the internet from speakers’ institutions or homes. The presentations will cover emerging clinical topics, cutting-edge science, and new therapies and offers 75 hours of CME credit. It will include presentations and speakers originally planned for in-person delivery at the Annual Meeting.

Presentations will continue to be recorded over the coming months and added to the online library on a rolling basis within 24 hours of being recorded. Once all presentations are recorded, a USB will be shipped to those who selected this add-on option upon purchase. More information is posted here.

At press time, APA On Demand was scheduled to be released this spring, with registration fees similar to those of the Annual Meeting.

“Although the Highlights and APA On Demand cannot replace or substitute the Annual Meeting, we hope that these programs will offer the kind of essential education our members and mental health professionals have come to expect from APA,” said APA Director of Education and Deputy Medical Director Tristan Gorrindo, M.D. “I urge everyone seeking the very best in psychiatric expertise to take advantage of these learning opportunities.”

“A large number of our physician members are restricted by their respective institutions from traveling to conferences and meetings to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and provide patient care, making it impossible for lecturers and registrants to attend a spring medical conference,” Levin said. “The latest information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Pennsylvania health authorities supported our judgment that travel restrictions, meeting restrictions, and social distancing are the required, safe, and responsible actions. Public health must come first.” ■