Insight Matters
Fall 2005

Old Boys Club
by David Bienenfeld, M.D., President

I am privileged to be able to count many members of the OPA Council among my friends and, while it is certainly pleasant to look out around the table AT Council meetings and see so many familiar faces, I am more than a little disturbed at what greets my eyes. What bothers me is that I see so few new faces. It is quite obvious that our practice environment is changing rapidly and dramatically. The effects of these changes will be most profound on those psychiatrists currently in training and new to practice. For OPA to act effectively we must include our junior colleagues.

The clear majority of residents in Ohio sign up to become MITs; at last count, about two thirds of the 244 psychiatry residents in Ohio were OPA members. But membership alone is of little value without commitment. Readers of this column are well aware of the advantages of being active in OPA including:

• Education, through journals and meetings
  
• Public education about mental health and psychiatric practice
  
• Advocacy for issues vital to the field
  
• Networking opportunities

The MIT or early career psychiatrist who simply maintains membership and peruses the newsletter before discarding it, does no good for himself/herself or the organization. Those of us who know from experience the benefits of active involvement are obliged to foster such commitment among our junior colleagues.

The APA has many resources useful for this purpose. The Mentoring Network on the APA web site provides a simple and fluid means for experienced practitioners, teachers and scientists to connect with those who would seek their advice. Additionally, a number of online forums provide collegial assistance, including those for members in training early career professional development and "members helping members." A small bit of your time and effort may be of tremendous use to someone with less experience.

On the OPA Council, I am hoping to appoint more committee chairs from among those with leadership potential who have not yet been afforded avenues to exercise those talents. I encourage current committee chairs to recruit members who will benefit from participating in the workings of our organization

As I outlined in my previous column, membership is most tangible at the chapter level. An MIT or ECP who does not feel connected to his/her chapter cannot be expected to connect to OPA. I will be contacting chapter presidents and residency training directors around the state to encourage one-to-one contact between active members and members in training. I encourage each of you to bring a resident or early career psychiatrist with you whenever you attend a chapter meeting.

The issues that face our organization are increasingly complex and change more rapidly than they have in prior years. It is critical to our effectiveness, and perhaps even to our survival, that we continue to bring in our or younger colleagues and encourage them to become vital and active within the Ohio Psychiatric Association.

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