Please Vote in APA’s 2017 Election

VOTE. This four-letter word brings an instant flashback about this year’s presidential election. I recall staying up late to watch the tally of electoral votes. The following day, my Facebook feed exploded with messages of outrage, dismay, celebration, and hope about our new president-elect. The social climate and the news had certainly stirred up uncertainty and fear in some residents, but have also given a new sense of hope in others.

As much as the media make us feel so divided at times, we know that mental health reform reaches beyond party lines. It requires collaboration, strong leadership, and, for us health care providers, active participation in policymaking and expressing our concerns to legislators. So no matter where we stand on our political views, we share the common mission of advocating for our patients and our profession. That is why I ask you to VOTE in this year’s APA election.

Because your voice matters. Having strong leadership at APA matters.

As an intern, I thought APA was an obscure and distant organization that provided me with the monthly green journal and the Annual Meeting. It was not until I became actively involved that I began to see how powerful organized psychiatry is. To give you a few ideas, in the past year, APA leaders teamed up with the AMA and other medical organizations to successfully defeat the bill that would have allowed psychologists to prescribe medication in Hawaii. In this APA election, I was reminded of what Dr. Jeffrey Akaka from Honolulu had said: “Nobody can do this alone.” We need leaders who can build relationships with other organizations and together protect the practice of psychiatry.

For a number of years, APA has also put tremendous effort in building collaborative care and telepsychiatry to help increase access to mental health care throughout the country. This past fall, we were thrilled to receive the news that Medicare will begin reimbursement for psychiatric collaborative care services in 2017. APA recently launched the Telepsychiatry Toolkit, which benefits residents and fellows like us, as it may be an important part of future psychiatric practice.

But the job is not done there. As a new chapter begins, we need leaders who can continue the push for mental health reform. We made great progress with the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, but much more needs to be done.

Support our future with a simple vote in this year’s APA election. We have an amazing slate of candidates, with three candidates running for resident-fellow trustee elect (RFMTE): Tanuja Gandi, M.D., from Connecticut, Sarah Kauffman, M.D., from New York, and Benjamin Solomon, M.D., M.B.A., from New York. The RFMTE serves for two years on the APA Board of Trustees and is a liaison between the APA organization and RFMs.

The voting began on January 3 and will end on January 31. To make things easier, voting and campaigning information can be accessed at APA’s homepage. Also, APA is sending out reminder emails at regular intervals with a direct link to your personal voting page. That’s right! No log-in or password required. Just check your member profile to make sure it includes your correct email address.

It takes just a few seconds to vote. Do it now! For any questions, please contact me at [email protected]. ■