December 4, 1998

APA is easily the most democratic medical association in the world. As opposed to most medical groups, APA chooses its leaders by direct vote. As a result, APA members have elected to the Board of Trustees and to the presidency both those who had worked hard in the organization for many years and those who had not exercised up to then their right to be an APA leader. Moreover, petition candidates have fared well, and new faces have often arrived at the Board in time to change our direction or invigorate our debates.

This issue of Psychiatric News brings you biographic data and statements of the candidates running for national and Area office in APA's 1999 election. It is hoped that this information will permit you to make a wise choice.

Candidates want to interact with as many APA members as possible and are not shy to answer any relevant questions. I encourage you to talk to them, express your feelings and ideas, and then vote. Many of them can be reached easily via their Web sites, which are linked to APA's homepage.

The best way to challenge the notion that all the candidates are alike is by learning about them. Those who take the time to study the candidates' plans and interact with them will find that the candidates are colleagues who are from many dissimilar places, have followed various professional paths, uphold a diversity of ideas, differ in their approaches to the problems facing our patients, and have specific ideas about the direction APA should take. What they have in common is honesty, a desire to work well and hard, intelligent positions about many issues, and unswerving loyalty to our profession and to our patients.

Will your vote count? Many elections have been decided on a few votes. One APA president, for example, was elected with a majority of only three votes. The results often reflect emergent trends in our thinking and purposes. The main loser in any election has been the member who did not vote.

At a time when APA is in a process of fundamental change, when our policies and operations are being carefully evaluated and modified, when our members are demanding decisive action in many fronts, nobody can be left behind. I hope those who read this year's election section talk to as many colleagues as possible and remind them of the need-and responsibility-to vote.

The election season is short: The ballots will be mailed on January 5, 1999, and the deadline for returning completed ballots is February 5. An independent agency will count the ballots. The results will be announced by early March.

I do hope that your participation in this election will send a major message to APA that everybody cares, everybody is ready to help create the future, and everybody is prepared to understand and use the democratic process to better help our patients and our profession.