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• 2009 Call for Submissions
• Symposium

Symposia

Format Description

A syposium is a formal, three-hour session focusing on a specific scientific or a clinically relevant topic in psychiatry or systems of care, representing several points of view. Symposia provide a more formal didactic approach than do workshops, and are designed to cover a topic from several points of view. For the Annual Meeting only, if sponsored by an allied or component group, only one submission per group will be accepted. The proposer chairs the session which includes a recommended minimum of three and a maximum of five papers, an optional co-chair and optional formal discussant, and a minimum of 45 minutes allotted for audience discussion.

Symposia submissions for the 2009 Annual Meeting in San Francisco will open on May 13, 2008 and a submission must be completed in its entirety by August 28, 2008.

N.B. Please advise all participants that, if accepted, all participants must register for the Annual Meeting at least for the day of the presentation. Please also note that Symposia sessions are audio recorded (as indicated on the combined Disclosure of Financial Interests/Presenter Release and Consent Form each participant completes); chairpersons should verify that their prospective presenters are aware of this.

1. Chair Contact Information

2. Chair Disclosure & Presenter Consent Form

3. Symposium Title (limited to 150 characters including spaces; please be succinct)

4. Topic Selection - Please choose the topic that best encompasses the overall discussion of your entire presentation.

5. APA Component or Allied Group (optional) - If your symposium is presented in collaboration with an APA Component or Allied Group, please provide the name of the group.

6. Participants' E-mail Addresses - Enter the email addresses for each participant specify their role: presenters (with order of presentation), co-chair (optional), and discussant (optional).

7. Educational Objectives (limited to 500 characters) – Learner-focused educational objectives describe the abilities and/or attitudes (learning outcomes) that complete the sentence, “At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant should be able to (e.g., demonstrate, recognize, diagnose, treat, etc…).” Be as specific as possible. Do not say what you are going to teach, say what you want participants to learn.

8. Literature References - Each proposed presentation must list four (4) relevant literature references. Follow the American Journal of Psychiatry style. For examples, see the AJP web site (http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org) where older articles are available free to the public.

9. Time Schedule/Agenda - Please provide an outline of the structure of the symposium. As a rule, individual presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes with a five- to ten-minute question period after each. Per CME requirements, allow at least 30 minutes at the end of the session for audience participation.

10. Abstract (limited to 2,000 characters including spaces) - The abstract is a concise description of the specific purpose, content, methodology, results, and importance of the proposed presentation. State specific findings and inferences explicitly. Conclude with a sentence that provides a strong summary for the abstract.

Checklist of Presenter Requirements

1. Contact Information

2. Disclosure & Presenter Consent Form

3. Paper/Presentation Title (limited to 150 characters including spaces; please be succinct)

4. Secondary/Additional Author(s) -- if any -- Names and Academic Degree(s) (optional) - Enter as free text the names of any and all co-authors -- with appropriate upper and lower case and correct punctuation as the names should appear in the Program Book -- (see example below):

   Benjamin Rush, M.D., John J. Smith, M.D., Ph.D., Mary Jones-Kennedy, M.D., J.D., Jane Johnson, M.B.A.

5. Abstract (limited to 2,000 characters including spaces) - The abstract is a concise description of the specific purpose, content, methodology, results, and importance of the proposed presentation. State specific findings and inferences explicitly. Conclude with a sentence that provides a strong summary for the abstract.

Checklist for Optional Co-chair and/or Discussant (s) Requirements

1. Contact Information

2. Disclosure & Presenter Consent

Note: Entries lacking any of the required elements by the established deadline can not be forwarded to the Scientific Program Committee for review and consideration per the standards and requirements for offering continuing medical education (CME) credits for scientific sessions.

Thank you for your interest in participating in the APA Annual Meeting. For additional information about this format, email Diane Runels.