Issues Important to MITs Focus of Several Sessions

APA’s 2003 annual meeting may be the first major psychiatric meeting that many residents will attend. To make the experience as rewarding as possible, APA, through its Division of Education, Minority, and National Affairs, has planned a packed schedule of educational sessions and special events for residents only.

A place to hang out at the meeting and chat informally with other residents is one of the purposes of the new Resident Resource Center. The center will also be the site of a special residents-only series of discussions with distinguished psychiatrists—including incoming APA President Marcia Goin, M.D.—who are renowned in their fields of expertise (Original article: see box for schedule). No other session format in the APA annual meeting gives residents an opportunity to get up close and personal in a small-group setting with these experts.

The center, located in Pacific Conference Suite I on the fourth floor of the Marriott, will be open from Sunday, May 18, through Tuesday, May 21, from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

An event on Sunday, May 18—“The Second Annual Global Psychiatry Luncheon”—combines education with an opportunity to meet residents and faculty from Sweden over lunch. It will be held at noon in room 132 on the exhibit level of the Moscone Center.

The event includes an educational session on the theme “Patients Who Do Not Easily Fit Into Diagnostic Categories” in which case presentations will be made about patients who made suicide attempts or requested to die. Panelists include Robert Spitzer, M.D., Philip R. Muskin, M.D., and Dr. Jörgen Herlofsson. Spitzer is an international authority on psychiatric diagnosis; Muskin is a consultation-liaison psychiatrist and past chair of APA’s Scientific Program Committee; Herlofsson is a renowned psychiatric diagnostician who has translated DSM-IV into Swedish.

Residents Summit

Each year the “Residents Summit” provides an opportunity for residents to come together and discuss an issue of importance to them. This year’s topic is “An Ethical Framework for Physician Interactions With the Pharmaceutical Industry.” It will be held Monday, May 19, at 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Parc Ballroom II on the fourth floor of the Renaissance Parc 55.

As many residents have probably discovered by now, physician contact with the pharmaceutical industry is frequent during and after residency training. Michael Jibson, M.D., director of psychiatry residency training at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, has created a curriculum to help residents construct an ethical framework in which to evaluate these interactions. The goal of the session is for residents to develop informed, clear, and thoughtful standards for these interactions. Participants will also have an opportunity to discuss their experiences and ask questions.

The summit will be followed by a reception for residents sponsored by the department of psychiatry at the University of California-Davis.

Early Research Career Breakfast

The Early Research Career Breakfast, sponsored by the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education, presents an opportunity for medical students and residents interested in psychiatric research careers to join with psychiatric research fellows and junior research faculty to talk informally with distinguished senior researchers. Tables are set up by area of research interest, and attendees are encouraged to circulate freely.

The breakfast will be held Tuesday, May 20, at 7 a.m. in Barcelona II on the third floor of the Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel. Since this is an invitation-only event, those who are interested in attending are asked to send an e-mail message to [email protected]. ▪

Ms. Delanoche is program manager in APA’s Division of Education, Minority, and National Affairs.