APA Institute Courses CoverDiverse Topics, Feature Experts

By Carol A. Bernstein, M.D.

For many APA members, the continuing medical education (CME) courses at APA's annual meetings remain a preferred educational format for enhancing their knowledge base and clinical skills. The course format has been developed to provide either in-depth reviews or clinical updates on advances in the field of psychiatry. Courses are held in a classroom setting, which provides an ideal opportunity to learn from nationally recognized faculty and to engage in discussions with these experts.

The courses to be offered at the 1998 Institute on Psychiatric Services, which is being held October 2 to 6 in Los Angeles, will cover a number of topics including treatment issues for women in minority groups, psychiatry and primary care, integrated models for the treatment of dual-diagnosis patients, and how to measure outcomes without breaking the bank.

The IPS Course Subcommittee diligently works to offer courses that combine the highest standards of teaching with innovative topics of clinical relevance. Our challenge is to continue to provide popular courses from master teachers while updating the course curriculum to address your specific educational needs.

The subcommittee reviews course evaluations and fine-tunes individual courses and the overall course curriculum. We are able to obtain a 90 percent response rate from our course evaluations, which helps ensure that course offerings are relevant and effective at meeting their educational goals. Comments from course participants are essential to the maintenance of our high standards.

Courses will be offered in half-day (four-hour) and full-day (six-hour) sessions. To maintain the small-group learning environment and to facilitate discussion, enrollment is limited. The number of participants for each course is predetermined on the basis of the topic and specific format of the course. This allows us to preserve the interactive atmosphere that has made the courses so consistently popular, yet makes it extremely important to enroll early.

A copy of the institute's preliminary program is available by calling (202) 682-6000 or clicking on the institute logo at APA's Web site at. A course listing, along with the registration and course enrollment forms, is included in this program. Additional information about the courses is available by calling Vernetta Copeland at (202) 682-6936.

Dr. Bernstein is a consultant to the Scientific Program Committee of the 1998 Institute on Psychiatric Services. Dr. Grady is chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the 1998 Institute on Psychiatric Services.