Richardson JA: helped organize and lectured at an AMA accredited CME for medical missionaries sponsored by the Christian Medical and Dental Association in Nairobi, Kenya Feb 9-10, "Medical Psychiatry: The Psychiatric Care of the Medical Patient."

M. Lee & C. White, Legalines: Antitrust Law, Chicago, Harcourt Professional Education Group, 2004.

T. LeBlang, A. Rosoff & C. White: Informed Consent to Medical and Surgical Treatment, Legal Medicine, 6/E, Philadelphia, Mosby, 2004

- M. Aly Rifai, MD has been elected as the deputy representative for the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Area 3 (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington DC). He has been serving, for the past year, as the National Institute of Mental Health member-in-training representative for the Washington Psychiatric Society. Dr Rifai is currently a senior clinical fellow at the office of the director in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), he works with the consultation-liaison service at the NIH clinical Center. After finishing his medical school education, he completed an NIH-funded neuroscience training fellowship at the Center for Neurosciences, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee, Memphis. He then completed a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Virginia, School of Medicine. Dr Rifai is board certified in internal medicine and psychiatry. He has received the prestigious NIMH outstanding resident award; and was also awarded the American Psychiatric Association scholarship for research on severe mental illness and hepatitis C. He is the recipient of a distinguished service award from the Department of Veterans Affairs for his research on the psychiatric aspects of Hepatitis C.

- Slivertooth, EJ: 2004 AMA Foundation Leadership Award

Attached is the press release concerning certification in psychosomatic medicine from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology for your publication. Please contact me if you have any questions or comments.

Shel Cappellano
Administrative Assistant, Research & Development, Evaluation Projects, and Communications
American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology
500 Lake Cook Road, Ste. 335
Deerfield, IL 60015
Direct Phone: 847-236-4362
Direct Fax: 847-236-4363

ABPN Announces Subspecialty Certification in Psychosomatic Medicine

As we do every year it is time to seek nominations for the Fenton Award. Because of the change in our meeting schedule (annual meetings in May) we seek nominations for a resident who will be a PGY4 in med/psych or family med/psych during academic year 2004-2005 and will serve May, 2005 to May, 2006 during their last (PGY5) year. Please review the following for further details and nomination form:

AMP Fenton Award Information - Word File

There will not be an Annual Meeting of the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry as we have traditionally had during the APM meeting. Instead we will meet in May 2005 in conjunction with SGIM. However, there will be a breakfast meeting from 7-8 a.m. on Friday November 19, 2004 during the APM meeting at the Sanibel Hotel and Resort on Sanible Island in Fort Meyers, Florida. More details to follow. (Please note that the APM newsletter has us meeting at 8 am. This is incorrect).

Theodore A. Stern, M.D., was recently promoted to Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is Chief of the Avery D. Weisman Psychiatry Consultation Service at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and President of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. Board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Dr. Stern is the author or co-author of more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters and 10 books.

The 11th Annual Meeting of the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry was held November 19, 2003, in San Diego, CA. During the meeting, we discussed that we will be revamping the newsletter to be e-mailed to you quarterly. The contents will also be posted on our website: www.amedpsych.com

Please e-mail Nish Patel patel.nishith@mayo.edu our group's coordinator, with information regarding:
· Awards, appointments, promotions
· Publications or presentations
· Recruitment activities
· Meetings of interest

We are hoping to use the newsletter to stimulate dialogue between our members and to showcase the many activities in which members of our group are leading and participating.

Caroline Carney Doebbeling, MD, MSc

I’m delighted to be writing the first letter for the inaugural edition of the AMP’s new newsletter. As individuals and an organization, we’ve had a busy year. Many of you were able to attend the Annual Meeting in San Diego in November 2003. The meeting was a great success, and I would like to extend thanks to Ted Stern, MD, for organizing a stimulating program. As I reflect on the meeting, I find that even more than the excellent program, I was delighted to share time and conversation with many of you. As dual-trained physicians, we are often practicing in locations where we have no colleagues with similar training and experiences. The AMP meeting was quite renewing, and I look forward to our next gathering.

Medical Decision-Making for People with Chronic Mental Impairments

A Fundamental Problem: Poor Medical Care

Any discussion of issues relating to medical decision-making for people with chronic mental impairments must begin with the recognition that these individuals have traditionally received terrible medical care. Multiple studies have thoroughly documented the alarmingly high rate of undiagnosed medical problems in individuals with significant mental disabilities. In a review by Erwin Koranyi (1980) of a dozen studies conducted over a 40-year period involving some 4,000 mentally disabled persons, approximately half had major medical illnesses, and in one-half to three-quarters of these individuals, the major medical illnesses went unrecognized. Poor medical care occurs both in public institutions and in community-based residential and outpatient care settings.

Click HERE to View the Full Chapter On-Line

Theodore A. Stern, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Chief of the Avery D. Weisman Psychiatry Consultation Service at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and President of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. Board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Dr. Stern is the author or co-author of more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters and 10 books, including:

The Massachusetts General Hospital Guide to Primary Care Psychiatry, Second Edition. Stern TA, Herman JB, Slavin PL (editors). New York, McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Facing Cancer: A Complete Guide for People with Cancer, Their Families, and Caregivers.
Stern TA, Sekeres MA (editors). New York, McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Update and Board Preparation, Second Edition. Stern TA, Herman JB (editors). New York, McGraw-Hill, 2004.

The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of General Hospital Psychiatry, Fifth Edition. Stern TA, Fricchione GL, Cassem NH, Jellinek MS, Rosenbaum JF (editors). St. Louis, Mosby/Elsevier, 2004 (in press).

1000 Psychiatry Questions and Annotated Answers: A Companion to Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Update and Board Preparation, Second Edition. Stern TA, Herman JB. New York, McGraw-Hill, 2004 (in press).