At Annual Meeting, Why Not Try Case Conferences?

While much of APA’s annual meeting is devoted to continuing education through lectures, poster sessions, and industry-sponsored symposia, there are other venues that APA members may be less familiar with but are equally informative. These venues include the clinical case conferences and continuous case conferences, both of which allow APA members to expand their knowledge in a more intimate and interactive setting.

The format for both types of conferences involves the presentation of selected case material followed by discussion of a specific topic relevant to each case. All case conferences are a blend of formal presentation and interactive dialogue with the audience, who are provided ample time for questions and dialogue with invited speakers and discussants.

Over the years, case conferences have covered a broad range of topics, including diagnosis and management of adolescents with ADHD and bipolar disorder, motivational enhancement therapy for addicted patients, affect dysregulation, and new perspectives on transference. This year’s case conferences will address the challenges of providing psychiatric care to the cardiovascular patient and the HIV patient, as well as difficult physician-patient boundary issues in somatization disorder.

Continuous case conferences provide an opportunity for APA members to explore chosen cases and topics in even greater detail. Because they occur over two days, continuous cases can progress from diagnosis through much of the treatment course and focus on more complex therapeutic issues. This year’s presentations include therapeutic approaches to counter demoralization and assessment of patients with refractory mood and cognitive disorders; the latter session involves faculty from Baylor College of Medicine and the Menninger Clinic.

APA members interested in presenting future clinical case and continuous case conferences are encouraged to contact me at APA, Annual Meetings Office, 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Va. 22209. ▪

Catherine Crone, M.D., is a member of APA’s Scientific Program Committee and chair of the case conference formats.