I’ve heard from many people that the best job in academic medicine is being a residency training director; these people are usually training directors themselves, so I think (or at least I hope) that’s a good sign. The best job in academic medicine can also be a tough and lonely job. Thankfully, those of who are involved in graduate medical education have the support and camaraderie of our colleagues in AADPRT. The mission of our organization is to “promote excellence in the education and training of future psychiatrists,” and we carry out this mission through our annual meeting, through the resources of our website, and through various communications throughout the year. Our next annual meeting will take place on March 9 to 11, 2017, at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. Adam Brenner, MD, our Program Chair, has selected a theme of “Define ‘Psychiatrist’: Merging Passions, Pressures, and Values.” Given all of the changes in medicine in the last two years, what does it mean now to be a psychiatrist? Once we’ve defined what a psychiatrist is, how do we in graduate medical education train people to become psychiatrists? The program of the annual meeting will include visionary speakers and ample opportunities for interaction and collaboration in order to help us answer these questions.
Two of the greatest challenges we face in academic medicine are promoting the wellness of physicians and supporting the development of faculty interested in graduate medical education. In order to help our organization address these challenges, we have charged two task forces with identifying ways of helping residencies address these issues. The charge of the Resident Wellness Task Force will be to identify and disseminate best practices for residencies to adopt in terms of promoting resident wellness, addressing depression/anxiety, and reducing burnout. Heather Vestal, MD, MHS, Associate Program Director of the MGH McLean Psychiatry Residency, and a leader in the field of physician wellness, is chairing this task force. Deb Cowley, MD, Vice Chair for Education at the University of Washington and a Past President of AADPRT, is chairing our Faculty Development Task Force, which will help identify best practices for residencies and Departments of Psychiatry to promote the development of faculty interested in GME and to identify the next generation of residency training directors. This is also the theme of our fourth annual AAP/AADPRT joint workshop entitled, “Promoting Faculty Development in Graduate Medical Education.” Our presenters include Don Hilty, MD, Academic Chair at Kaweah Delta Health Care District, and Suzanne Murray, MD, Psychiatry Residency Training Director at the University of Washington, who will discuss models of fostering the careers of faculty interested in GME. We hope to see you at our workshop at the AAP Annual Meeting on September 23 at 1:30 pm! The Association for Academic Psychiatry is a strong partner in medical education, and we in AADPRT look forward to continued collaboration.
AAP Bulletin – Spring 2016, Page 3 of 7
