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James Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., joined the APA staff last month as the new director of the Office of Education.
Thompson was previously at the University of Maryland School of Medicine at Baltimore, where he rose from clinical assistant professor of psychiatry in 1982 to professor in 1995. He also spent seven years as a research psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health and directed outpatient clinics in Chapel Hill, N.C., and for the Indian Health Service.
He received his doctor of medicine degree in 1970 from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans and obtained a master’s degree in public health administration in 1978 from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Shortly after he joined APA, Psychiatric News interviewed him in his APA headquarters office.
As the new head of the Office of Education, what goals have you set?
My first goal is to continue our long-standing relationships with APA components and organizations outside APA so we can help them meet the challenges facing psychiatric education today. My second goal is to develop APA-sponsored CME experiences to a much greater extent than in the past.
The Office of Minority/National Affairs has been placed under your leadership. What issues will get the highest priority?
As a profession, we need to deal more effectively with the increasing diversity of psychiatrists and our patients. If you combine all of APA’s underrepresented groups and IMG’s, they make up a large percentage of our membership. Moreover, by the year 2025, the so-called "minority populations" in the United States will become the majority.
I would also like to see more interaction between the Office of Minority and National Affairs and other APA offices including the Office of Education. For example, efforts in curriculum development for minorities can complement existing ones in the Office of Education.
APA’s annual meeting continues to be a big draw for members. What changes do you envision for the Office to Coordinate the Annual Meetings (OCAM)?
We need to develop more innovative ways of reaching people during the annual meeting using such technologies as the Internet and videoconferencing. I also envision expanding our CME activities beyond the annual meeting, which would rely in part on the experience and expertise of OCAM.
To help APA decide what projects should be a priority, I plan to organize a CME development group.
How has your past work experience prepared you for your current position at APA?
I am a former residency training director and have worked extensively with medical student education in various academic positions including professor of psychiatry for the last two years at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. I also chaired the Maryland Psychiatric Society CME committee and ran the University of Maryland grand rounds program for several years.
Will you continue in your current position of clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine?
I think it is very important for someone in this position to maintain close contact with teaching. I plan to continue to supervise a residency at the University of Maryland and teach some seminars as well.
What factors influenced your decision to join the APA staff?
I wanted a position where I could help think through some of the problems we’re facing today in psychiatric education as a whole and have some influence on our approach to those issues. This position seemed like the perfect way to be able to do that.
As an active clinician, I understand that residents and faculty face a host of clinical issues, pressures from managed care, and staying abreast of scientific developments in our field. I am also very interested in career development of academic psychiatrists, who I think spend so much time teaching that they don’t develop academically.
What is your impression so far of APA?
I have been very impressed with the quality of APA staff and look forward to working with them and APA members and components.
I am also very pleased to be working with Jay Scully, M.D., chair of APA’s Council on Medical Education and Career Development, and other leaders in psychiatric education who have been a great help to me already. I can’t do a job like this alone and will turn to leaders in the field frequently for advice and assistance.