At Work for You ...and Your Patients

Approximately 300 APA members arrived in Washington, D.C., last month to participate in the Association’s annual fall component meetings and to work on issues of importance to APA and the field of psychiatry and its patients. This marked the first time that the components had met since APA’s entire component structure was reviewed and streamlined earlier this year. In an effort led by APA President-elect Marcia Goin, M.D., and Jon Gudeman, M.D., the number of components was reduced from 106 to 88, and the number of positions available went from 654 (plus 232 corresponding members and consultants) to 532 (plus 124 corresponding members and consultants). These reforms reduced the cost of the component structure by about $582,000, or approximately 40 percent. The components also meet in conjunction with the APA annual meeting.

A highlight of this year’s fall component meetings was the plenary session held on Friday, September 13 (see page 8). APA President Paul Appelbaum, M.D., introduced APA’s next medical director, James Scully, M.D., a former APA deputy medical director and head of APA’s Office of Education (see page 1). Also at the session, Appelbaum was pleased to announce that the Washington Post—the “hometown paper of every member of Congress,” he noted—had reversed its longstanding opposition to parity for mental health benefits in a recent editorial after a crucial meeting with him and other APA leaders and staff.