Candidate for Trustee-At-Large

I welcome the opportunity to communicate with your organization and your members on issues of concern to you as you are preparing to vote in the upcoming 1994 APA election.

I have a very special interest in psychiatric education, particularly if IMGs, because I am foreign born. I was born during World War II and was raised in the war torn country of Greece. I came to the United States to study medicine and psychoanalysis, planning to return to Greece. When I first arrived in the US in 1956 as a freshman at Rutgers University/Douglass College, I was one of handful of foreign students. Today, we live in a world of global media, rapid changes and cultural diversity. Yet the challenges of adaptation, the stress of integration of cultural backgrounds and the mastery of foreign language are as urgent today as they were for me in the US of the late 1950*s.

For the last 25 years I have been in full-time practice with a special interest in teaching and supervision. In addition to my work with psychiatric residents and child/adolescent fellows, I have also worked as head of multi-disciplinary treatment teams for children and adolescents in schools and clinics.

I have found psychiatric practice both challenging and fulfilling. I want to see our field maintain its hard won advances while expanding access and treatment for all citizens. I*m particularly committed to the survival of clinical private practice. It is ironic that, at this time in the US, the center of capitalism and free enterprise and, under the banner of Health Care Reform, price controls and prohibition of freedom to contract for psychiatric care by patients with the psychiatrist of their choice are seriously proposed. While change is unavoidable and necessary, as foreign born, I know what American medicine means as well as the value of freedom of choice. I also know that IMGs remain a significant untapped organizational resource within APA. The recent establishment of an APA component for IMGs will offer an opportunity for IMG input within the organization. But more needs to be done.

The cultural diversity of APA members includes the more than 1800 psychiatrists of Indian origin, and is one of the strengths of our profession. However, the challenge of active participation at the DB level and in APA components is largely unfulfilled. DBs, in association with IMG organizations could offer specific educational opportunities for IMGs such as psychiatric language skills and preparation for oral boards. At a time of fundamental change in US health care, professional affiliation is mandatory. Grass roots activism is needed if we are to change in constructive ways. For IMGs this is a unique opportunity for DB involvement. APA must serve as the central forum where members, working in highly diverse settings, can come together to address the current challenges. While de-stigmatization of psychiatry and of psychiatric patients and non-discriminatory coverage are central advocacy positions for APA, I view the need to preserve the option for private practice and freedom to contract for health care by individuals with the psychiatrist of their choice are also crucial.

I have spent over 2 years in service to my DB and APA in both elected and appointed offices. I understand the need for an open, democratic, organizational structure so that the diversity of our field and of our members can be properly represented.

I am ready to serve on the APA Board and plan to seek active communication with members as part of my function as Trustee at Large.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to share my views with you and seek your support in my election.