While I have served on the APA Council on Research and the Council on International Psychiatry, much of my work with the APA has focused on capacity building through education and mentoring in numerous APA research and early career programs. Over the last two decades, while conducting many long-running seminars, I have been involved in programs such as the APA Minority Fellowship Programs, the APA Early Career Programs, and the APA Research Colloquium for Junior Psychiatrists. During my time with the Council on International Psychiatry, we successfully advocated for the APA Humanitarian award to be renamed in honor of my mentor, Chester M. Pierce MD.
Society has a responsibility to care for those most vulnerable, few have the capacity to do so. The APA can play a major role in accelerating access to care with APA psychiatrists leading these efforts. As APA President, my priorities will work to :
Increase
access to care in the US and globally by leveraging APA education tools, and programs, fostering partnerships and collaborations to accelerate capacity building in care, research, training, and advocacy for substance use treatment and mental health parity and a public health strategy.
Focus
on improving access to quality care across generations, populations, and regions for underserved populations such as children and adolescents, underrepresented ethnic populations, substance use disorders, and seriously mentally ill individuals. These vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected by psychiatric and medical morbidity and mortality.
Strengthen
education and research programs for medical students, residents, and early career psychiatrists, leadership programs for APA members, and increase the voice of those underrepresented within the APA and APA leadership.
Prioritize
the APA’s role in the technology explosion to understand the usefulness and interpretations of mental health apps and the effectiveness of telepsychiatry. There needs to be a strong psychiatry clinician leadership in the technology growth.