Leadership Opportunities for Residents in the APA
Residents with an interest in organizational psychiatry can apply for these leadership positions:
- Member-in-Training (MIT) Trustee
- Assembly Committee of MITs
- APA Representative to the AMA-RFS
- Resident Representative to the RRC
Nationally Elected Leadership Position - Member-In-Training Trustee (MITT)
The Member-in-Training Trustee position was created by constitutional amendment in 1987. Each year, a Member-in-Training Trustee Elect is elected at large and serves on the Board for one year without a vote. At the end of that year, the Member-in-Training Trustee Elect advances to Member-in-Training Trustee and serves on the Board for one year with voting privileges. A new Member-in-Training Trustee Elect is elected. These positions provide national APA leadership opportunities specifically for Members-in- Training. The Member-in-Training Trustee (with vote) and Member-in-Training Trustee Elect (without vote) are members of the Board of Trustees, the governing body of the APA. The power to make policy is vested in the Board, and the Board's primary function is to formulate and implement the policies of the Association. The Board exercises all powers of the Association that are not otherwise assigned.
What meetings will I be expected to attend?
Members of the Board are notified in advance of the date and place of the meetings and are sent such materials on the agenda as are available. Trustees are expected to attend meetings and participate in the matters at hand, for they cannot delegate responsibility to govern or give a proxy vote. The Board customarily meets five or six times a year: in March; in May at the annual meeting (an organizational meeting with newly elected officers and trustees is held at this time); in September or October (sometimes during the Psychiatric Services Institute), and December. The Board may meet more often at the discretion of the President. Most meetings, except for the May meeting, are held in or around Washington, D.C., at a hotel near APA headquarters. APA pays travel, room, and meal expenses for Board members to attend Board meetings. The meetings generally last two and a half days, usually over a weekend (except during the annual meeting) but dates and times are at the President's discretion.
Who is eligible?
Residents who are APA Members-in-Training and in their PGY-2 or PGY-3 year the summer prior to the election in January of the following year are eligible. PGY-3 residents must be in training through PGY 5 so as to be in training through the term as MITT (through May two years after the election) and must submit a signed statement of intent to do so, prior to nomination. If a PGY 3 resident is elected MITTE, but changes plans such that he/she is no longer in training, he/she will forfeit the MITT position. Residents may recommend themselves or be recommended by others. The resident elected as MITTE and MITT cannot, while serving as MITTE and MITT, simultaneously belong to or hold a position in the Assembly Committee of Member-in-Training Trustees, APA Public Psychiatry Fellowship, APA Minority Fellowship or APA Leadership Fellowships.
Who do I contact?
Ricardo Juarez at 703-907-8527 or by email
Assembly Committee of Member-in-Training Representatives (ACOM)
The Assembly Committee of Members-in-Training (or ACOM) provides Assembly representation for members of the American Psychiatric Association who are enrolled in psychiatric residency and fellowship training programs. Committee members are elected by their Area Councils (seven in all), and serve two sequential one-year terms: the first as Area Member-in-Training (or MIT) Deputy Representative, and the second as Area MIT Representative. Area MIT Representatives are voting members of the Assembly while Deputy Representatives are not. ACOM members serve on Assembly committees, including the Rules committee, Reference committees, the Assembly Executive Committee, and the Assembly Committee of Planning. Submitted to APA Assembly by A. Evan Eyler, M.D., M.P.H. Chair of ACOM, 2002-2003
What does ACOM do?
ACOM Representatives and Deputy Representatives serve as:
- a reference and referral group for the Assembly when seeking input on actions or proposed actions affecting MIT.
- a centralized coordinating group with other groups representing MIT interest in the APA.
- a voice regarding issues before the Assembly and Area Councils.
ACOM History in the APA
The ACOM was added to the Assembly of the APA in 1987, during the speakership of Roger Peele, M.D. The concept of providing representation for APA members during psychiatric postgraduate training developed during the mid-1980’s, during the era of transition from the “Assembly of District Branches” to the “Assembly of the APA”, which would include specific representation for under-represented an d professionally distinct groups within the organization. The formation of ACOM was preceded by inclusion in the Assembly of delegates representing women psychiatrists, racial and ethnic minority identifie d psychiatrists, and gay and lesbian psychiatrists, and followed by the addition of representation for allie d professional organizations and international medical graduates. Since that time, ACOM has provided a crucial link in the chain of responsible professionalism and future orientation that characterizes the Assembly of the American Psychiatric Association. The current members of ACOM take pride in this role, and send our best wishes to our young colleagues in the generations to come. Submitted to APA Assembly by A. Evan Eyler, M.D., M.P.H. Chair of ACOM, 2002-2003
What happens at the Assembly meeting?
The whole Assembly gathers, which is about 300+ people, and we are seated according to Areas, and there is a top dais with the Chairpersons of each area, the trustees, the president and other executive officials, and of course the speaker. We meet in Plenary sessions, which include the whole Assembly. There will be the opening one Friday afternoon, then one on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. After the plenary sessions there usually are Area Council caucuses. We gather together in a room, usually with light refreshments provided, and debate what is coming up, what we might be bringing up, and sometimes we are "lobbied" such as by candidates for senior positions, or occasionally by people from other Areas wanting to 'push' an action paper or issue of theirs. The other addition is that many people from each of the Areas get appointed to what are called Reference Committees, which look over new Action Papers and attempt to evaluate them, sometimes suggesting major revisions, if necessary. This will then be brought to the Assembly plenary, and the author (s) of the paper will be given the choice to go ahead (which is risky if it has already been viewed negatively by the Reference Committee) or to withdraw it and have another go at it in the months before the next assembly. There are also various awards, eulogies if people who were well-known have died, and sometimes presentations by APA staff people or others on interesting issues. Adapted with permission from Joseph Berger, MD
The APA has two positions in the AMA-RFS who are also part of a larger APA delegation at AMA meetings.