The November 2004 AMP Newsletter is now available online. You can download the entire newsletter in Word format for viewing offline and printing. You can download the file by clicking on the following link:

November 2004 AMP Newsletter in Word Format

(Note: Some people have reported that the link will ask for "authentification" - if it does this, just click "cancel" and the file will open properly)

President's Letter - November 2004
Caroline Carney Doebbeling, MD, MSc

Last month I cared for a patient with lung cancer who was referred to me for an evaluation of anxiety and depression. Upon arrival in my office, his dyspnea was so severe, that he had difficulty speaking during the first ten minutes of the diagnostic evaluation. In addition to treating his target mental symptoms, I also started him on oxygen. He called a week later to report that his overall sense of well-being and stamina had greatly improved. He asked why his other doctor hadn’t recommended oxygen.

Inviting you to review abstracts
Caroline Carney Doebbeling, MD, MSc

I have been asked by Jeff Jackson and Stefan G. Kertesz, Scientific Abstract Chairs for the 2005 SGIM Annual Meeting, to chair the new abstract category Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Because of your interest and expertise at the interface of medicine and psychiatry, I would like to invite you to review abstracts for this new category. Please let me know by OCTOBER 29th if you’d like to be part of this review committee.

I greatly look forward to your input. William Tierney and Martha Gerrity, new editors of JGIM, are committed to expanding coverage on mental health topics. I’ve recently accepted the position of Deputy Editor for Mental Health. Please consider signing up to be a reviewer. It’s easy to do and takes only a couple of minutes. If you were on the reviewers’ list previously, your name and contact information may not have been transferred to the new data base. Go to http://www.research.iupui.edu/jgim/authors/Reviewers.asp and complete the brief questionnaire which will ask for key words in your areas of interest. Let’s work together to make JGIM the best journal for articles regarding the interplay of mental health and medical issues!

Stay well and hope to see many of you in November 2005 and May 2005.

Minnesota Psychiatric Society Integrated Care Task Force
Roger Kathol, M.D.

The following document is an FYI for members of the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry and a request for information about similar initiatives in the United States or elsewhere. As all of you know, the medical climate is changing to one in which treatment of psychiatric illness in the medical setting is becoming a target for program development. Now that we have a critical mass of jointly trained physicians, it is important that clinical opportunities be created, which maximize the value that psychiatrists with non-psychiatric specialty expertise can bring to the system and the patients they treat. The Minnesota Integration Task Force is pursuing such a project. While the traditional consult model is of significant value, it does not typically lead to outcome change in the majority of patients treated. It is thus important to create new collaborative care paradigms in which this can more consistently occur.

The MPS project has gained the endorsement of the Minnesota Medical Association, the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (a statewide health care improvement body), the Minnesota business community, and the Governor’s Health Care Cabinet. Perhaps the most important part of the initiative is that it is being supported within the current health care purchasing and reimbursement system and not by external grants. This will allow the model programs in the initial network to roll out to other clinical sites in the rest of Minnesota once the success of the programs is documented.

I look forward to hearing from others who are creating similar environments or are interested in considering doing so in their own state.

MPS Project Information (Word Document) (if asked for a login/password, just click cancel)

"Self-Harm Behavior & Eating Disorders" publication
Randy Sansone

Because many of you share my interest in self-harm behavior and/oreating disorders, I wanted to notify you about our upcoming publication, "Self-Harm Behavior and Eating Disorders." I have attached a flyer and would appreciate it if you would place this in a strategic location in your department or treatment center for those faculty and clinicians who may be interested in these topics. Thank you!

Flyer on "Self Harm Behavior and Eating Disorders"

Textbook of Psychosomatic Medicine

The American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. is publishing the Textbook of Psychosomatic Medicine later this year. The textbook is likely to be "the standard" in the field and will be especially helpful to those preparing to take the boards in psychosomatic medicine and to all clinicians, researchers and residents specializing in psychosomatic medicine. The attachment in the link below outlines specifics and ordering information.

Textbook of Psychosomatic Medicine Information in Word Format (If it asks for a login/password, just click "cancel")

The Primary Care Companion to The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
Larry Culpepper, M.D., M.P.H., Editor in Chief

The Primary Care Companion to The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, the official journal of the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry, is now in its 6th year of publication. J. Sloan Manning, M.D., provided outstanding leadership through the first 4 years of growth of the Journal and set the stage for me to assume its editorship and to steer it during its current phase of growth.

The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine Review Course and Annual Meeting originally scheduled for Sanibel Harbour Resort has been relocated to a new hotel and city -- the Marco Island Marriott Resort, Marco Island,Florida. Attached you will find important information regarding the move.

APM Hotel Change Information (if you are asked for a login and password, just hit cancel)

Marco Island Reservation Information (if you are asked for a login and password, just hit cancel)

The AMP Newsletter is now available online. You can download the entire newsletter in Word format for viewing offline and printing. You can download the file by clicking on the following link:

June 2004 Newsletter in Word Format

(Note: Some people have reported that the link will ask for "authentification" - if it does this, just click "cancel" and the file will open properly)

Caroline Carney Doebbeling, MD, MSc

I hope this newsletter finds the members of the AMP doing well, and looking forward to summer. This spring has been an exciting and busy time. I recently returned from the Society of General Internal Medicine’s (SGIM) annual meeting held in Chicago May 14-18. It was a pleasure to see AMP members Charlie Schwartz and David Bekelman in attendance. Charlie and I attended the Mental Health in Medicine Interest group. The interest group is composed of SGIM members who have an interest in education, research, and treatment of mental health conditions in the medical setting. The health professionals attending this group have interests closely aligned with the members the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry. During the session, I took the opportunity to introduce the AMP, and to welcome members of SGIM to consider joining the AMP. They will shortly be receiving contact information to apply for AMP membership.