IPS: The MH Services Conference From a Resident’s Perspective

Psychiatry residents are usually aware of APA’s annual meeting, with its smorgasbord of intellectual confections and vast number of attendees. While its sister conference, IPS: The Mental Health Services Conference, offers equally satisfying scholarly fare, unfortunately many residents have never heard of this intimate, communal learning opportunity. Thus, I would like to share my warm regard for the conference, uncover for you its feast of knowledge, and extend an invitation to fellow residents and other APA members to join me in New York from October 8 to 11.

This year’s theme is “When Good Care Confronts Red Tape: Navigating the System for Our Patients and Our Practice.” This reference to guidance is very apropos as I launch into a discussion of all that this compact conference has to offer.

For those of you who, like me, are intimidated by large crowds and harried speakers, the smaller size of IPS provides a welcome reprieve from what can seem like an impersonal experience at larger conferences or meetings. Because the number of presenters and attendees at IPS is smaller than at APA’s annual meeting, the experience is rich and warm in a way that only such an intimate gathering can provide. Even at my first IPS conference last year, I felt immediately recognized and included in the fold as though I were a returning member of a family of community psychiatrists. I had the opportunity to meet at length with Dr. Altha Stewart, now APA secretary and former president of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, and Dr. Renȳe Binder, now APA president, in one-on-one conversations in which I felt I had received consideration and respect equal to those given senior attendees, an honor I will not forget. The warmth and encouragement of such an experience is not to be taken lightly, especially for a psychiatry resident stepping out into the larger academic world.

Part of the professional growth process fostered by psychiatry residency includes learning to present one’s ideas formally, for example, through workshops and posters. As a member of the IPS Scientific Program Committee, I am keenly aware of the importance that the committee places on including people at all levels of medical training and, in particular, on encouraging residents to present their posters, symposia, and workshops and offering mentorship to resident presenters as they navigate this process.

For those residents and medical students interested in further professional support, I will say that my experience at IPS last year offered myriad opportunities not simply to “network” but to really connect with more experienced attendees, providing me with valuable insights into the current practice of psychiatry and how best to serve my most challenging patients. I look forward to continuing to forge these relationships at IPS this year, and I am certain you too will find people who inspire you there.

I must also extol the multidisciplinary virtues of IPS, as there is not much opportunity during residency to learn from people outside of the field of medicine. At IPS last year, I heard speakers in the fields of anthropology, civil engineering, and social work as well as poignant first-person accounts of the road to recovery from peer-support specialists and patients.

The wide variety of speakers’ backgrounds broadened and enriched my understanding of the care of severely mentally ill patients in a way that no other conference has done so powerfully. IPS is a place of hope for the recovery, and this positive perspective strengthened my resolve to pursue community psychiatry in my career.

I strongly encourage you to attend IPS as a way to garner perspectives far afield from what you are likely to experience within psychiatry residency and to bring the gift of deepened perspective back with you to share with your colleagues. Regardless of your area of interest in psychiatry (or related fields), IPS offers a chance for you to learn skills directly relevant to your day-to-day practice in a collegial, relaxed, and intimate environment. ■