 |
 |
|
|
Residents in the department of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine are getting a head start on membership in APA.
That’s because the department is paying for its residents to become APA members as part of an initiative designed to introduce students to the national professional organization and at the same time promote the residency program.
"We think it is important to provide our residents the opportunity to be involved in the national association as early as possible, allowing them to develop relationships with other residents and senior psychiatrists across the country," said Domenic Ciraulo, M.D., chair of the department of psychiatry at Boston University, in an interview with Psychiatric News.
Ciraulo credited Theodore Nadelson, M.D., vice chair of education in the department of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine, with helping to shape the idea.
A total of 32 residents received membership in APA, at a cost to the department for each resident of $80 plus fees for membership in the local district branch, Ciraulo said.
"This is a critical time in our field," he added. "We want our residents to become aware of the issues that are facing our profession early in their training."
Ciraulo also said he believes it is important to allow residents to attend APA’s annual meeting, exposing them to "the best in research," while encouraging young psychiatrists to develop a habit of attending the meeting every year.
Additionally, membership in APA provides residents with an opportunity to become involved with the organization’s political process, as well as in national issues that are relevant to psychiatry, Ciraulo said.
Ultimately, the department’s gift to its residents will help in recruitment by demonstrating an interest in advancing students’ careers, he said.
"The costs to the department pale in comparison to the benefits that will pay off to the program down the road," Ciraulo said.
He urged other departments to follow BU’s example.
"APA has always stood for excellence in education and research," Ciraulo said in a prepared statement. "Its publications - 'the [American Psychiatric] Press' - have set world educational standards for our profession. I want our residents to feel a part of that. Even with the financial restriction, I would recommend that other chairs encourage and move their residents toward our organization by the gift of a beginning membership."
APA Membership Committee Chair Bernard Katz, M.D., hailed the Boston University initiative. He believes the school is not the only department to provide its residents membership in APA. It is not known how many other departments pay membership dues for their residents, he said, but they are in a minority.
"I think it used to be much more common than it is now," Katz told Psychiatric News. "Some departments do buy their residents membership, most do not. This is something that we on the membership committee believe is a low-cost perk for the residents that helps to strengthen, at the earliest stage possible, students’ identification with the professional organization.
"We are grateful to Dr. Ciraulo and to the department of psychiatry at Boston University and would encourage other departments to do the same," Katz said.