An update from ACLP member Rebecca Weintraub Brendel, MD, JD, FACLP, DFAPA, who was president of the ACLP 2018-19
“It’s been a busy few months since I was honored to become president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in early May.
“One of the major responsibilities of the APA president-elect is to chair the Joint Reference Committee (JRC). The JRC receives action papers from the APA Assembly, and resource documents, position papers, and other workflow from the APA Councils and Committees, and, in turn, directs the flow of all these documents among the Assembly, the Components, and the Board of Trustees.
“In this role, it’s a pleasure to again be working directly with Sejal Shah MD, FACLP, chair of the APA Council on C-L Psychiatry (CoCLP), and to witness the important collaboration between ACLP and the APA CoCLP.
“Under Dr. Shah’s leadership, the CoCLP has an ambitious agenda for this year with plans to develop resources on opioid use disorder in the general hospital, and on long COVID, and education on C-L Psychiatry topics in Psych News.
“In June, CoCLP and ACLP held their yearly virtual recruitment forum, to promote C-L Psychiatry fellowships in response to the psychiatric workforce shortage.
“Next up for CoCLP is a collaboration with the ACLP Early Career Psychiatrist SIG to develop a webinar on applying for jobs in C-L Psychiatry, and additional efforts on workforce shortages and billing and reimbursement.
“As president-elect, I will also make appointments to APA Councils and Committees for positions that begin following the May 2022 Annual Meeting. Volunteering with the APA is one way that members can support the profession, by developing policy and resources, and advance C-L Psychiatry.”