March 19, 1999

By Rodrigo Muņoz, M.D.
APA President

A conception of APA as a pentagon with five interacting sides (Board of Trustees, Assembly, components, district branches, and staff) has been driving the core of our activities for longer than one year.

Three interactions are especially challenging: Board of Trustees with district branches, Assembly with components, and district branches with APA staff. While we have been searching for a model, the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society (PPS) has engaged in a planning exercise that may provide solutions for the future.

As presented by Dr. David Greenspan, president of the PPS, the PPS council embarked on creating a strategic plan "to make the PPS a more vital and responsive organization. . . . The plan will serve as a guide to define the essential purpose of the organization, prioritize the use of its members' time and other resources, and measure its accomplishments. . . .The process will energize the organization and its members into a more active and collaborative partnership for the benefit of all concerned."

The strategic plan, which was preceded by the collection of relevant data, an environmental analysis, and a membership survey, was discussed earlier this year in an eight-hour retreat designed to accomplish the following objectives:

1. Create vision and mission statements that should become the PPS's blueprint.



2. Identify measurable goals for the organization and strategies to implement them, in line with the mission and vision statements.



3. Make a priority list of the goals and strategies within a coherent implementation plan.

Attendance at the retreat was excellent and included a number of recognized leaders of psychiatry in Philadelphia as well as the state. Dr. Sheila Judge, president of the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society (PAPS), was a major source of ideas (see article below). So were chapter leaders like Pittsburgh's Dr. Roger F. Haskett, who flew in through a snowstorm. The strong spirit of cooperation was demonstrated further by the presence and input of Dr. Ed Leonard, APA's Area 3 trustee, and Dr. Arnold D. Goldman, president of the New Jersey Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Kimberly Best, PPS vice president, led the work group on APA/PAPS/PPS. The major focus of this group was interaction with APA: Can a district branch or chapter identify areas of interaction with APA leading to immediate plans for joint projects? This group showed it could be done. Dr. Best is ready to work with John Blamphin, director of APA's Division of Public Affairs, to develop programs for media training and public affairs; with Sam Muszynski, director of APA's Office of Healthcare Systems and Financing, to develop responses to managed care; and Charles Killian, APA's chief information officer, and Lea Mesner, project manager, to develop strategies for enhanced internal and external communications. Dr. Mike Vergare, M.D., of the PPS is ready to work with Dr. Jim Thompson, director of APA's Office of Education, on developing CME modules.

What PPS is aiming for is nothing less than bringing in the full force of APA to develop activities and plans benefiting the psychiatrists of Philadelphia and, by extension, the psychiatrists of Pennsylvania. Such interaction between APA's national and local offices harnesses the strengths that each of them brings to the partnership.

As I toast the wise and industrious efforts of our colleagues in Philadelphia, I express my hope that these efforts will be replicated elsewhere.