March 19, 1999

The Association for Convulsive Therapy launched a new initiative recently aimed at establishing evidence-based standards for the practice of ECT. The ACT Task Force on Credentialing plans to offer the first voluntary certification course in conjunction with next year's APA annual meeting.

ACT President Robert Greenberg, M.D., told Psychiatric News, "We hope this effort will revitalize interest in ECT and result in safer and more effective standards. Currently, the level of care varies tremendously because there are no universally accepted certification standards for ECT, and training is highly variable at medical centers and residency training programs."

APA President Rodrigo Muņoz, M.D., commented to Psychiatric News, "I believe that every practicing psychiatrist should have a basic knowledge of ECT, including when to use it and when to refer. I want to bring ECT back into the mainstream of psychiatry. We can't neglect any area of expertise."

Muņoz added, "I appreciate that the Association for Convulsive Therapy has taken on the difficult task of protecting this treatment, which is under severe attack by those who are ill informed and biased."

Richard Jaffe, M.D., chair of ACT's Task Force on Credentialing, told Psychiatric News, "Given the negative publicity surrounding ECT, the association wants to ensure that treatment is state of the art and administered in the most appropriate way. ACT is concerned about the varying level of training in the United States resulting from each hospital's having different requirements for ECT privileges."

Jaffe plans to collaborate with APA's Task Force on ECT in developing the curriculum, and its members will serve as course faculty. Greenberg and ACT's immediate past president, Edward Coffey, M.D., serve on APA's task force.

Jaffe added that interest in the new certification course should be high, based on past sold-out attendance at ACT's symposia offered in conjunction with APA's annual meeting. The symposia are "Functional Neuroimaging Studies in ECT," "Interaction of ECT and Medications," and "What to Do When ECT Fails."

More information about ACT and its membership benefits can be found by going to its Web site at www.act-ect.org or by calling ACT Executive Director Frank Moscarillo, M.D., at (301) 951-7220.