Association of Women Psychiatrists
APA Election
| Office | Candidate |
| President-Elect | Sidney Weissman, M.D. |
AWP: What have you done to advance women’s involvement in organized psychiatry and specifically in the APA? Please tell us your specific accomplishments.
Weissman: In all of my positions as a psychiatrist I have consistently worked to assure that all individuals with whom I have worked are treated fairly and appropriately. This is a requirement that I hold myself accountable. As a director of psychiatric residency training I routinely appointed women to the position in the program as chief resident. In positions in a number of professional societies including the Illinois Psychiatric Society, the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training, the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Board of Adolescent Psychiatry I have consistently ensured that women were appointed to key positions of leadership and where possible could assume the presidency. I am quite proud that in 1998 and 1999 the psychiatric residents of Loyola University Medical Center selected me as the outstanding faculty member. One half of the residents at that time were women.
As Scientific Program Chair of the American Psychiatric Association in 1997 I assured that women had key responsibilities on the committee and participated in all decisions for which I had authority. If elected President-Elect of the APA I shall continue all of these efforts.
AWP: What proportion of men and women would you like to see on APA Committees? How many women would you appoint? This question is only applicable to President Elect nominees.
Weissman: The APA is fortunate in that its members are talented in numerous ways. The working rule for appointments to committees should be that in total APA committees must represent the gender and ethnic makeup of the general membership.
AWP: What important issues for women would you promote? How would you do this?
Weissman: In the near term I see two major issues for women members of the APA. First is how to balance family responsibilities and professional ones for early career psychiatrists. Many women after graduating from residency for a period of time work only part time. We must look at the economic implications of this on the early career psychiatrist and develop mechanisms to assure their sustained involvement in organized psychiatry. We must examine our dues structure to make sure that it sustains this involvement.
The second issue I shall address relates to women attaining leadership positions in the APA and in academic psychiatry. This connects with the first issue that I addressed. We must make sure that women can build a base of support and relationships in the APA to attain leadership roles . This effort ideally starts either during residency or immediately thereafter. We must also work with other organizations to address issues of academic tenure which currently discriminate against women.
AWP: What strategies would you use to promote the retention and recruitment of women in APA?
Weissman: The key time in a psychiatrist’s career to recruit them to join the APA is either during residency or immediately after residency graduation. The APA must examine the special issues women confront in establishing their careers. As I noted above the APA must make sure that its policies respond to these issues and that women feel and are in fact supported and have an opportunity to express their abilities in the APA.
Finally for women who delay initial involvement in the APA we must make sure that mechanisms are in place for them to enter into the mainstream of psychiatry at a later date and share their experiences and expertise.
Frances Bell
info@womenpsych.org
http://www.womenpsych.org/new.html
Last updated March 29, 2006 08:10 PM
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