Candidate-Endorsement Process Reflects Psychiatry's Growing Impact at AMA

In recognition of the growing presence of psychiatry within the AMA House of Delegates, the Section Council on Psychiatry is instituting a formal process for endorsing psychiatrist candidates for elective office in the House of Delegates.

To be elected or appointed to any office in the house, it is important to receive the endorsement of one's state as well as specialty and subspecialty society well in advance. For that reason, any AMA and state society member who is either a psychiatrist or a member of the Section Council on Psychiatry and seeks a candidacy endorsement by the section council for nomination to an elected or appointed position in the AMA must notify the chair of his or her subspecialty and state delegation in writing no later than two years prior to the election or appointment for which he or she seeks nomination.

The written notification must state what position the individual is seeking and for which year or years of election or appointment. Once a formal endorsement has been received from a state, specialty, or subspecialty delegation, the potential candidate can submit to the section council a“ political interest” form, which has been mailed to every psychiatrist in the House of Delegates. In general, the section council anticipates that expressions of interest should be made several years in advance of the anticipated vacancy.

“With the growing representation of psychiatry within the House of Delegates, the section council wanted to ensure that all psychiatrists can seek the support of the section council in a way that is open and fair and also in a way that increases the chances of successful election,” said John McIntyre, M.D., chair of the section council. “We want to be sure that we can support and encourage candidates who will have a good chance of winning and advancing the cause of psychiatry in the house of medicine.”

Additional information about the process can be obtained from Eugene Cassel, J.D., director of APA's Division of Advocacy, by e-mail at [email protected].▪