November 20, 1998

APA has taken steps to ensure that psychiatry's future leaders are prepared to meet whatever challenges come their way through the new Executive Leadership Program (ELP).

It is a part of the executive leadership initiative by APA President Rodrigo Muņoz, M.D., and cochairs of the Executive Leadership Advisory Committee, Charles Price, M.D., and Jeremy Lazarus, M.D. Price is chief resident in the department of psychiatry at the University of Nevada-Reno, and Lazarus is a private practitioner in Englewood, Colo., and an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

Thirty-three of APA's early career psychiatrists and members-in-training (MITs) are enrolled in a pilot program consisting of three two-day courses on health care economics, health care law, and leadership strategy. They were invited to participate by members of the Executive Leadership Initiative and met in Los Angeles in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel to take the first course, which dealt with health care economics and finance.

"In this day and age there is no human activity that is not related to the general economy. If we don't understand that, we will suffer the consequences," said Muņoz. "If we have 10 potential leaders of APA complete this training and get M.B.A.s, we will have advanced in creating the first barrier of protection against money people who try to invade and control our practices."

The Executive Leadership Program has a partnership with the University of California San Diego (UCSD). UCSD has an open public program for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and health care executives that can be parlayed into a master's degree in business administration. Faculty from this Health Care Executive Leadership Program in medicine and business are participating in APA's leadership program. The program is intended to provide training in business and to promote discussion and consideration of how to apply new information to the provision of psychiatric care. The ELP organizers hope to eventually establish a way to use the course work in an M.B.A. degree.

ELP faculty focus on practical applications of business and leadership theory. APA leaders also teach in the program, emphasizing the application of information to the practice of psychiatry.

The ELP promotes understanding of all aspects of the health care system as well as collegiality and networking. Participants will work on team projects between courses and stay in touch through e-mail. Through the course of the program they will learn about different health care systems from their colleagues.

Funding for the pilot session was provided by pharmaceutical companies, and participants paid a small fee. Continuation of the program is dependent on further funding.

Parts two and three of the pilot program will be held in January and June 1999. Muņoz said that the first session went very well and that the participants rated it highly.

"I have to applaud these young people who put everything aside and came to learn something not directly related to being a psychiatrist but directly related to protecting psychiatry," said Muņoz.

For more information on the ELP and the possibility of future sessions, contact Rosalind Keitt in the Office of Education at APA by telephone at (202) 682-6013 or e-mail at rkeitt@psych.org.