Insight Matters
Winter, 2002

Candidates for OPA Secretary: David Bienenfeld, M.D.

Position statement
I am honored to be nominated for reelection as Secretary of the Ohio Psychiatric Association. My career has been one of service to our profession, and I view this office as another means to repay our field for the satisfaction it has given me.

I have been an active participant in many aspects of organized psychiatry. For the past year, I have served as your District Branch Secretary. (Because of the institution of staggered terms, my term was for only one year, and I have been permitted to run for reelection this year.) My experience in this office has provided me with familiarity with the issues facing the organization and the skills and information necessary to meet those challenges. I have strong and effective working relationships with the Executive Director, Phil Workman, and the President-Elect, Brien Dyer.

I have served as President of the Dayton Psychiatric Society, OPA Councilor, Chair of the Public Information Committee, and member of the Program Committee and Disaster Response Team. I have been a Trustee of the OPA Education and Research Foundation. Within APA, I have been a member of the Task Force on Education and Training in Geriatric Psychiatry, and Chair of the Committee on Graduate Education. I am also an APA Fellow.

As an educator of psychiatric residents and medical students for over 19 years, I am intimately acquainted with the concerns and needs of our Members-In-Training and our Early Career Psychiatrists. From my work in academic settings, I have learned the skills of teamwork and negotiation. I have become very successful at striking bargains that leave all parties feeling like winners. That capacity is required both for the work that happens within OPA and across our boundaries with other organizations and agencies. I have also attained the expertise at effective communication that is at the heart of the specific responsibilities of the Secretary.

My active psychiatric practice keeps me aware of the issues that face us all: financial and utilization constraints, intrusions into doctor-patient confidentiality, threats to clinicians' autonomy, crises of public image and trust, malpractice liability, and the dilution of the role of the physician in patient care. I am dedicated to upholding our professionalism in the face of these challenges.

I am confident I can serve you well by bringing my skill and experience to bear on the responsibilities of this office. I will welcome the opportunity to return to OPA a small fraction of the benefits it has brought to me as an Ohio psychiatrist.

Back to Newsletter