Golden Gate to Open Wide for APA Fall Institute

This year's APA Institute on Psychiatric Service (IPS) will be held October 27 to 30 in what for many members is unquestionably their favorite city—San Francisco.

Many psychiatrists return year after year to the IPS because of its user-friendly nature, with all scientific sessions held in one hotel—this year that will be the San Francisco Marriott Marquis Hotel—and to take advantage of a multitude of opportunities for socializing and networking with colleagues.

The theme for this year's institute— "Comprehensive and Coordinated Care: Bringing It All Back Home"—is certainly a timely one for any clinician wondering how all the changes in the health care delivery system that are on the horizon or knocking on the door will affect his or her practice.

Many of the sessions will focus on topics relevant to this theme, including several on strategies for and benefits of integrating primary care and mental health care, which is being discussed as a key component of medical homes and accountable care organizations.

Wesley Sowers, M.D., chair of the Scientific Program Committee for this year's IPS, noted that a special track has been developed to address issues related to integrated primary care and mental health services, adding that an effort is being made to attract primary care providers to the institute and to provide opportunities for them to interact and problem solve with psychiatrists. "This is a unique aspect of this meeting and one that we are really excited about," he said.

Other sessions will spotlight evaluations of evidence-based practices in mental health treatment and the latest research that is advancing clinical care for a wide range of psychiatric disorders.

Attendees will be able to customize their IPS experience by selecting from a potpourri of workshops, lectures, symposia, and discussion groups that mesh with their professional needs and interests. Sowers said that because of the size of the meeting, "there are plenty of opportunities to interact with the presenters during and after their sessions." He said that this can be especially valuable for residents. "They will have a great opportunity to begin to build their professional networks."

There will also be an array of half-day and full-day courses for in-depth immersion in current clinical and research topics. Among this year's course topics are buprenorphine training (leading to certification in that treatment modality), emergency psychiatry, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults, and psychopharmacology.

The institute has long attracted leading lecturers, and on this year's roster are Carl Bell, M.D., Roger Kathol, M.D., Marc Olfson, M.D, Roger Peele, M.D., Carolyn Robinowitz, M.D., Kenneth Thompson, M.D., and Robert Whitaker. In addition, former Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Richard Frank, Ph.D., will provide a comprehensive update on the status of an issue prominent on the minds of clinicians and the patients they treat—implementation of last year's health care reform law.

The institute's opening session will feature an awards ceremony and a keynote address by Wilma Townsend, an expert on recovery and cultural competence in the delivery of mental health care. Townsend is a former director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health's (DMH) Office of Consumer Services. She is a policy analyst in the Consumer Affairs Office of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Among her many achievements, she played a key role in developing the Ohio DMH Diversity Resource Center and has also consulted to state and local governments and health-related organizations about recovery-oriented services, peer-operated programs, and consumer involvement in health care policymaking.

"This is really an extraordinary program," Sowers emphasized. "We have been very fortunate in attracting an array of leaders in our field, and we expect to have a very diverse group of people in attendance."

And if all of the scientific riches aren't enough of a rewarding experience, outside the hotel doors are the wealth of exciting historic sites, breathtaking scenery, and culinary adventures for which visitors have long flocked to San Francisco. Join them at this year's IPS.