Electronic Fall 2023 | Issue 56

Area 4 Hosts Summer Meeting in Kansas City

By: Kenneth Busch, MD and Sudhakar Shenoy, MD

Area 4 of the APA Assembly was pleased to host its summer meeting on August 26-27 in Kansas City, Missouri for our Representatives from the 12 states in the region.

IPS has an exceptional delegation which includes: Dr. Linda Gruenberg, Dr. Arden Barnett, Dr. Joshua Nathan and Dr. Susan Scherer. We are very grateful to Dr. Sudhakar Shenoy for serving as IPS Alternate Representative in Kansas City.

Other IPS members who are delegates to special-interest groups in the Assembly consist of: Dr. Lisette Rodriguez-Cabezas (Association of Women Psychiatrists), Dr. Aida Mihajlovic (American Association of Social Psychiatry), and Dr. Seeba Anam (Asian-American Psychiatrists).

We thank all of our IPS Representatives and Delegates for their hard work, dedication, commitment, and the important roles they have in serving their constituents.

IPS is especially proud of Dr. Shastri Swaminathan who will be serving in the capacity of Parliamentarian for the entire APA Assembly this year.

The Speaker of the Assembly for 2023-2024 is Dr. Vasilis Pozios from Michigan. Many of us have worked previously with Dr. Pozios in Area 4 and we look forward to working with him in his leadership role as Speaker. A top priority will be for our delegates to reach out to constituents about what the Assembly is doing and asking for their input.

Our summer meeting focused on governance issues within the Assembly and business matters for Area 4. We had a phenomenal presentation on state and federal advocacy from Amanda Blecha, JD who serves as APA Liaison Staff for our area. We talked about drafting policy issues such as Action papers for the upcoming Fall Assembly that takes place November 3-5.

The meeting had a very good presence from residents and ECPs through the RFM and ECP Representatives on board. It was great to have their participation with so much energy and vigor on cutting-edge issues related to advocacy and policy. The ECPs also found camaraderie and networking opportunities and were able to explore Kansas City while getting to know each other.

Priorities of Area 4 for 2023-2024 will focus on advocacy and legislative matters, RFM participation, DEI and social justice issues, and strategic planning initiatives. We are already working on an RFM area-wide virtual event for December and planning our 4th Annual MLK program in January to honor the life and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In addition, a pilot project was launched for an awareness campaign in the 12-state region of Area 4 on suicide prevention and mental health for veterans and service members, along with their families and caregivers. The plan is for each state to work on developing a strategy to proceed, such as outreach to their communities and participation at Veterans Day activities.

It is a pleasure and honor to serve as Area 4 Representative, which includes IPS. We have an outstanding delegation in the Assembly and are always looking at the best ways to serve our constituents. Your input is most important to us. Thank you for your support and please let us know of your suggestions.