PRE-MEETING FALL 2023
America’s Think Tank for Mental Health
www.ourgap.org
CIRCULAR LETTER #665
DATES OF FUTURE GAP MEETINGS:
Message from the President
2023 November 9–11 Sonesta White Plains Downtown White Plains, New York
Greetings all.
2024 April 4–6 Sonesta White Plains Downtown White Plains, New York November 14–16 Sonesta White Plains Downtown White Plains, New York
GAP OFFICERS: President Calvin R. Sumner, M.D. docsumner@gmail.com President Elect Robert P. Roca, M.D. rroca2@jhmi.edu Secretary Sy A. Saeed, M.D. saeeds@ecu.edu Treasurer Gail E. Robinson, M.D. gail.robinson@utoronto.ca Past President Lawrence S. Gross, M.D. lgross@usc.edu
I hope everyone has enjoyed the summer, and I sincerely hope you’ve taken a little time to enjoy family and friends and to take care of yourselves. Taking care of ourselves is critically important, especially for those in high-pressure professions like medicine. The practice of medicine at any level today is challenging, and the potential toll this takes on the individual is a recurrent focus of national attention. Burnout is a long-term stress reaction that most of us have faced at one time or another in our careers. I would guess that most of us in GAP are survivors, but we shouldn’t delude ourselves into thinking that all our colleagues will be so fortunate. This isn’t something we talk about because, as physicians, we’re trained to have a certain degree of stoicism. But stigma, professional pressures, regulatory burdens, licensure, and the need for privacy conspire to prevent those most in need of help from getting help, and the causes of precipitating stress go unchanged. It strikes me that GAP could be an essential voice in focusing on systemic and organizational interventions necessary to change the culture of medicine and reduce the toll on individuals. I want to thank all the committees that have updated their statement of purpose posted on the GAP website. Currently, 20 committees have approved or revised their statements of purpose, and 13 committees still have work to do. Apart from updating GAP‘s information on the website, the statements of purpose are living guidance documents for committees. A statement of purpose is different from a mission statement. A mission statement would describe what a committee does and for whom, a concise summary of the purpose and goals. On the other hand, a statement of purpose explains why a committee exists and what it hopes to achieve in the long term. It is a more aspirational statement that goes beyond the committee’s current activities, products, or services. Judging from the volume of emails between GAP members this summer, artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for the practice of psychiatry have become a very hot topic. The flurry of interest in AI followed the publication of two contrasting points of view on AI in psychiatry in Psychiatric News on June 16, 2023. AI has been around for about 70 years since the term was coined in 1956. AI is a broad field of computer science that creates intelligent agents— systems that can reason, learn, and act autonomously. AI systems are typically trained on large amounts of data to learn how to perform specific tasks, such as playing chess, driving a car, or recognizing objects in images. AI is embedded in many tasks we take for granted, like virtual assistants (Alexa, Siri, et al), image and facial recognition, manufacturing, etc. Recent excitement comes as AI makes closer approximations to artificial general intelligence (AGI), a hypothetical type of AI that would have the ability to perform any intellectual task that
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Message from the President ...continued. a human being can. AGI systems would be able to learn and adapt to new situations, and they would be able to reason and solve problems in a way that is similar to humans. The potential implications of computer systems that can think like a human isn’t lost on those of us who engage in the very human field of psychiatry. With lots of GAP interest in this topic, Stu Copans and the Plenary Committee set out to track down potential presenters for a plenary session on this intriguing topic. The committee’s tireless efforts were successful, and we’ll be hearing from the two Psychiatric News authors, Steven Hyler and Darlene King, at the Fall plenary. Dr. Hyler’s article, “Is it Cheating to Use Chat GPT-4 in the Clinical Practice of Psychiatry?” endorses AI with his viewpoint, “I argue for the enablement and encouragement of trainees to harness all accessible resources, including Chat GPT-4, during their education. This approach could potentially enhance their clinical acumen and proficiency in integrating technology into patient care.” Dr. Hyler is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and has a long-standing interest in education and technology. Dr. King has a different perspective in her article in the same issue of Psychiatric News, stating, ”Ultimately, while
this technology has amazing potential in psychiatry, these mainstream, large language models are not built with adequate sources, privacy protections, or robust enough models to prevent unforeseen harm.” Dr. King is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Deputy Medical Information Officer at Parkland Health, and the Chair of APA’s Committee on Mental Health Information Technology. Since this should be an exciting plenary packed with information, we have extended the session to offer more discussion opportunities. Because our time is still limited, Drs. Hyler and King have a pre-plenary audience poll for you to take a minute of your time and give them your responses anonymously so they can speak more specifically to the needs and interests of our GAP group. Link to poll: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SR9GZPP I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the Fall GAP meeting. All the best,
Calvin R. Sumner, M.D. President, Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry
FALL 2023 MEETING SCHEDULE 153rd MEETING OF GROUP FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF PSYCHIATRY THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9 Finance Committee Meeting__________________ 9:30 a.m. GAP Office Opens_________________________ 10:00 a.m. Publications Board Meeting__________________ 12:30 p.m. Board of Directors Meeting___________________ 2:00 p.m. Fellows Meeting with Selection Committee Psychopathology Committee Meeting (Adler)____ 4:00 p.m. Fellowship Selection Committee Meeting_______ 4:30 p.m. Reception of the Board of Directors with Fellows_______________________________ 5:30 p.m. The Fall Meeting will be held at Sonesta White Plains Downtown,
Fellows Dinner_____________________________ 6:30 p.m.
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66 Hale Avenue, White Plains, NY 10601. G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y
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FALL 2023 MEETING SCHEDULE ...continued. Committee Meetings:
COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Child (Stubbe) Psychiatry & Community Committee Meeting (Minkoff)
ADDICTIONS
Research Committee Meeting (Kramer)_______ 7:00 p.m. Welcome Reception____________________ 8:00–11:00 p.m.
ADMINISTRATION & LEADERSHIP ADOLESCENCE AGING ARTS & HUMANITIES
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10
CHILD PSYCHIATRY
Breakfast__________________________________ 7:30 a.m.
CLIMATE COMMITTEE
General Membership Meeting_________________ 8:30 a.m.
COLLEGE STUDENT
Committee Meetings________________________ 9:30 a.m.
CONSULTATION LIAISON PSYCHIATRY
Coffee Break______________________________ 10:30 a.m.
CULTURAL PSYCHIATRY DISASTERS, TRAUMA AND GLOBAL HEALTH
Luncheon
FAMILY
Steering Committee Meeting Fellows Meeting_______________________________ Noon
GENDER AND MENTAL HEALTH
Intro to ChatBots for Psychiatrists Steven Hyler, MD and Darlene King, MD________ 12:30 p.m.
LGBTQ+
Committee Meetings________________________ 2:00 p.m. Coffee Break_______________________________ 3:00 p.m. Juice Break________________________________ 4:30 p.m. Plenary: Chatbots and AI: The Future of Psychiatry Steven E. Hyler, MD and Darlene King, MD_______ 5:00 p.m.
MEDICAL EDUCATION MILITARY & VETERANS NEUROPSYCHIATRY PLANNING, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS PSYCHIATRY & COMMUNITY
Cocktail Reception__________________________ 6:30 p.m.
PSYCHIATRY & LAW
Dinner____________________________________ 7:30 p.m.
PSYCHIATRY & MEDIA
Hospitality_________________________________ 9:00 p.m.
PSYCHIATRY & RELIGION PSYCHOPATHOLOGY PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Steering Committee Breakfast Meeting
RESEARCH
Fellows Breakfast Meeting Breakfast__________________________________ 8:00 a.m. Committee Meeting___________________ 9:00 a.m.–Noon
SOCIAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION TELEPSYCHIATRY, HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES, AND E-BEHVIORAL HEALTH WORK AND ORGANIZATIONS
G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y
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