Do You Love a Great Bargain? APA Membership Fits the Bill

Being a resident who is active in APA, I often find myself explaining to a curious colleague why I believe APA membership is such an important part of my professional development—and why I believe they should think seriously about joining the organization as well.

The many benefits that we can take advantage of as members-in-training (MITs) fall into two general areas of great concern to us—professional and financial—that, needless to say, often overlap.

On the professional level, APA membership certainly provides a wealth of opportunities to exchange ideas and experiences with resident colleagues from training programs across the United States and often with international colleagues as well. Just as vital as we make decisions about and develop our psychiatric careers are chances to network with nationally renowned leaders in the clinical and research realms—the people whose publications we've read and ideas we've studied.

APA has two major meetings each year: the annual meeting in May and the Institute on Psychiatric Services in October. Both provide many opportunities for networking and learning. MITs get a huge discount on registration fees for both meetings.

At the annual meeting, for example, there are special breakfasts at which residents and experts in different fields of psychiatry can discuss career considerations and other issues. A number of workshops are designed to help residents and early career psychiatrists build the foundation for a successful practice, while others prepare residents to take their board certification exams.

Another membership benefit I have found particularly valuable is free online access to the Webcast Principles of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy by Glen Gabbard, M.D., and Lucy Puryear, M.D., which comes with three 20-minute video lectures. MITs also can access at no charge APA's Annual Meeting Online Library of scientific sessions. The library has been particularly useful to me when I wanted to attend sessions scheduled at the same time or review key issues and findings in more detail. It is also valuable for MITs who are not able to attend the annual meeting.

Since building a good relationship with a mentor is so crucial to us as we lay the groundwork for our careers, the online mentorship network that connects psychiatry residents with experienced clinicians and researchers is also a valuable resource APA provides for MITs.

One exciting door that APA membership has opened for me is the chance to have a say in the association's policymaking process. As the MIT trustee, I have a vote on all matters before the Board of Trustees. The MIT trustee-elect serves as an ex officio member of the Board for a year before stepping up to MIT trustee.

The Board also has a nonvoting representative from the Committee of Residents and Fellows and representatives from several of the fellowship programs that APA cosponsors.

But there are ample additional opportunities to have a voice in the Association. Every one of APA's seven geography-based sections known as Areas has both an MIT representative and a deputy representative to the APA Assembly, which meets twice a year—once in Washington, D.C., and once before the annual meeting.

In addition, for residents who want to make a contribution at the local level, many of APA's district branches have a member-in-training representative in their governance structure.

Of course, being residents, financial issues are never far from our minds, and I am convinced that APA gives residents good value in exchange for our dues dollars.

Speaking of those dues dollars, residents get a significant reduction on APA dues, with their national dues waived during their first year of membership, a practice also followed by most APA district branches. (APA requires that psychiatrists join both the national organization as well as their local district branch.) After that residents pay $80 in annual dues and reduced district branch dues.

APA also gives its members access to free online CME opportunities and posts valuable advice for negotiating such complex practice issues as HIPAA compliance and the move to electronic health records. And there's more. All members receive Psychiatric News and the American Journal of Psychiatry free and can request a free subscription to Psychiatric Services. Also, MITs are eligible for a 25 percent discount on book and journal purchases from American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.

So I hope you can see why I often end up winded when I talk about what a great value APA is for its very modest dues dollars. I hope you will maintain your memberships once you finish your residency and encourage your colleagues to join as well.

To obtain a membership application, contact the APA Answer Center at (888) 35-PSYCH, send an e-mail to [email protected], or click on the “Join APA” section of APA's Web site at<www.psych.org>.▪