Women psychiatrists who would like to hone their negotiation and self-advocacy skills are invited to attend a breakfast workshop sponsored by the Association of Women Psychiatrists (AWP) at APA's 2010 annual meeting in New Orleans.

The AWP is an allied organization of APA with a mission to help women network to advance in their careers while still balancing life priorities.

The workshop will be held Wednesday, May 26, from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the Plismoll Club at 2 Canal Street in New Orleans.

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing number of women applying and getting accepted to medical school and an increasing number of women selecting psychiatry as a career. Even with these increased numbers, women psychiatrists continue to struggle compared with their male counterparts in advancing in their careers in terms of promotion and securing leadership positions.

The workshop, which I will chair, will include presentations from three women leaders in psychiatry: Leah Dickstein, M.D., emerita professor at the University of Louisville; Carol Nadelson, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and director of the Office for Women's Careers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; and Joanne Ritvo, M.D., a private practitioner in Denver. Each speaker will impart pearls of wisdom about how they navigated challenges to succeed in both academic and private practice settings.

The second half of the program will consist of an interactive mentoring experience with members of the AWP executive committee and current and past leaders of APA, including Carol Bernstein, M.D., Carolyn Robinowitz, M.D., Altha Stewart, M.D., Marcia Goin, M.D., Gail Robinson, M.D., and Nada Stotland, M.D.

Areas of interest for the small-group interactions include negotiating contracts, becoming a departmental and national leader, succeeding in research, balancing life and work, weighing part-time work's risks and benefits, and negotiating gender and cultural barriers.

The event, including breakfast, will be complimentary to all AWP members and $5 for nonmembers. Women psychiatrists who are not AWP members are welcome to attend and join the AWP at the event or prior to the event by visiting the AWP's Web site at <www.associationofwomenpsychiatrists.com/membership.php>.

Residents and early career psychiatrists are especially encouraged to attend as the AWP will also be launching a small-group mentorship initiative so that attendees can continue to communicate with the leaders they meet.