Acad Psychiatry 31:95-96, March-April 2007
doi: 10.1176/appi.ap.31.2.95
© 2007 Academic Psychiatry
Why Join a Subspecialty Organization? Membership in the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine
Stephen M. Saravay, M.D.,
Paula T. Trzepacz, M.D. and
William S. Breitbart, M.D.
Received March 7, 2006; revised July 5, 2006; accepted July 13, 2006. Dr. Saravay is affiliated with Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, New York. Dr. Trzepacz is affiliated with Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Breitbart is affiliated with the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York. Address correspondence to Dr. Saravay, 400 Lakeville Road, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY 11040; saravay{at}lij.edu (e-mail).
Many psychiatrists who work as solo practitioners in their own offices or in salaried positions find the experience isolating and look for ways to collaborate with peers in a stimulating academic environment. Many find that membership in subspecialty organizations answers these needs. As president (SMS), past president (PTT), and president-elect (WSB), we would like to describe our experiences in one such organization, the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine (APM), which represents the newest of the formal subspecialties in psychiatry, consultation-liaison psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine. Originally founded in 1954, the APM became the national organization of consultation-liaison psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine in 1991 (1). Our mission is to represent psychiatrists dedicated to the advancement of medical science, education, and health care for persons with comorbid psychiatric and general medical conditions and to provide national and international leadership in the furtherance of those goals. In its vision statement, the Academy states it will vigorously promote a global agenda of excellence in clinical care for patients with comorbid psychiatric and general medical conditions by actively influencing the direction and process of research, public policy, and interdisciplinary education.
We will describe how an organization such as the APM can aid professional development for individuals and groups through mentoring, research collaboration, networking, and education and, at the same time, can forge professional and personal relationships among like-minded colleagues. On average, consultation-liaison services in academic settings consist of 2.8 full-time attendings, not counting residents and fellow trainees (2). But other programs may be staffed by one full- or part-time psychiatrist providing consults to medical inpatients and outpatients. For subspecialty solo practitioners or consultation-liaison services with several staff, their home departments of psychiatry, no matter how supportive, may not be able to provide the professional and personal fulfillment required by subspecialty psychiatrists, whose aims and focus must differ in some respects from the general field. Support for effective patient advocacy, clinical care, research, and teaching, unique to a subspecialty, can benefit most by the moral support of like-minded colleagues who share common experiences, aims, and goals.
The first experience of joining a subspecialty society usually begins with attendance at an annual meeting. In a society of our size (about 800 members), the inauguration is welcoming and personal. We have a new member brunch, where the officers of the Academy join new members at several different tables over a light meal to get to know them and acquaint them with the workings of the Academy. The Webb Fellowship is another path that provides a welcoming introduction into the organization. Medical students, residents, and fellows who are interested in consultation-liaison psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine and who successfully apply for the fellowship award have their travel expenses subsidized by the Academy. Each is assigned an Academy mentor in addition to a mentor chosen from the home institution to assist in the preparation of a research paper for presentation at the subsequent annual meeting. Jim Levenson, who inaugurated the Webb Fellowship program, routinely took the new fellows out to a bar so they could get to know one another over drinks. We now have a cocktail party in their honor so they can meet our officers and council members. Many of our Webb fellows have become leaders in the field and in our organization.
We also have a pipeline for professional development. New members can easily identify chairs of the various committees and task forces at the annual meeting by the special badges that identify them so that they can learn firsthand about committee activities and how to request appointments to those committees of interest to them. They will work with new colleagues at the committee meetings during the annual meeting and collaborate through conference calls and e-mail throughout the year on various initiatives and projects.
Their contributions to the Academy can be recognized by fellowship status and by appointment as chairs of the committees on which they have served. Committee chairs are invited to attend the council meetings to provide an open and transparent process and foster a creative collaboration with the governing body. Committee chairs and task force members, recognized for their noteworthy contributions to the Academy, can be nominated for an appointment to the governing council, which will make them eligible for subsequent election as an officer. At each step along the way, collegial mentoring contributes to professional development, while personal relationships are forged in the pursuit of common aims. The real "high" as we warmly greet one another and renew personal contacts at the annual meeting creates a great atmosphere for the academic program. The program provides an exciting, concentrated menu of academic research presentations, cutting-edge overviews in symposia of current topics, organized opportunities to meet up close and personal for give-and-take discussion with leaders in the field in "how to" workshops, and course updates and board preparation—a true feast to sate the appetites of consultation-liaison psychiatrists hungry for the latest information in the field.
Meeting times and rooms are set aside at the annual meeting for special interest groups endorsed by the Academy, such as the Women’s Caucus, which supports career development for women. Representatives of allied organizations are also encouraged to meet together to foster mentoring and professional development along with project development. These meetings have become a launching pad for special interest groups to form their own groups, such as the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry and groups in the fields of obstetrics and gynecology and psycho-oncology. We enjoy mutual friendships and collaboration in research and teaching with our international colleagues from the European Association of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine and representatives from Japan and other countries.
The Academy also supports smaller and even more intimate local affiliate organizations in New York, Philadelphia, and Cleveland, which meet throughout the year for academic programs and award dinners for consultation-liaison psychiatrists and trainees.
Each of us has personally experienced these benefits. A number of years ago, two of us were headed for dinner when we noticed a younger new member without plans for the evening. He accepted our invitation for a pleasant meal and recalled years later when he became an officer of the Academy that this first experience hooked him on the warm, collegial atmosphere that our Society provides. During our own developing careers, our mentors have facilitated appointments to the panel of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology’s psychosomatic subspecialty exam-writing committee and APA Practice Guidelines panel for delirium, invited us to collaborate on their research, and helped us network with other senior members in our own and affiliated organizations. At annual meetings, creativity and work are often combined with play. A paper was revised with one of our coauthors outdoors in a hot tub during the annual meeting in Phoenix, and the theme for the 2005 program was developed during the 5K run in San Diego by the program chair and the president-elect. What was most impressive was that both claimed to have accomplished this feat without breaking stride or requiring supplementary oxygen.
We hope that we have given you a taste of our experiences and how a subspecialty organization like ours can provide opportunities to enrich professional and personal development, while having fun, and provide opportunities to contribute to the growth of your chosen field.
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REFERENCES
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- Gitlin D, Levenson JL, Lyketsos CG: Psychosomatic medicine: a new psychiatric subspecialty. Acad Psychiatry 2004; 28:4–11[Abstract/Free Full Text]
- Saravay SM, Garbouzova Y, Ogievetsky N: Survey of CL services in general hospitals on Long Island, NY: poster presentation. Tucson, Ariz, Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, 2006
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