The Association of Medicine and Psychiatry is on the Web

To: The Association of Medicine and Psychiatry
From: Richard Malis
Subject On-line Newsletter

Dear AMP members,

I am happy to inform everyone that this quarter’s newsletter will be the first official AMP newsletter on the web.

At last year’s meeting, several of us thought that the AMP could benefit from an email discussion list. With the help of Ati Yates and Amy Genereaux, we launched an AMP discussion list in January 2000. The various discussions have been very interesting, ranging from ideas on the potential role of ECT in delirium to general messages about job opportunities.

We have had some discussion about moving the AMP newsletter to an electronic format. With an electronic version of the newsletter we will not only be more efficient with time and money related to publishing the newsletter, but I think we will notice other advantages. For example, I think the potential of people “posting” their feedback directly onto the articles has promise for a more interactive experience. Also, it would be quite easy to keep an archive of old newsletters. This sort of “web presence” will allow exposure to many more people who have interests similar to ours.

Down the road, there are many advantages that the web will offer the AMP. As we are all geographically distanced, a web site in combination with the discussion list will offer a centralized place for sharing our ideas and resources. As technology improves, we will have even more exciting ways to shares these resources.

I am sure that some people will be concerned about this move to an electronic version. We will certainly try our best to address any concerns. For those who really dislike the thought of using a computer, we could offer an option of faxing a paper copy of the newsletter. However, I think most would opt to download the version from a web site and then print it out. A third option would be to send a copy of the newsletter directly to someone’s email address. With feedback from you, we can work out these specifics over the next several months.

I would like to thank Ati Yates for helping with this endeavor. We agreed that this message would make an interesting article in the upcoming newsletter. This copy of the newsletter will be available on-line at:

http://www.amedpsych.com/newsletters.html

where everyone will be able to get an idea what we are talking about. I am very receptive to suggestions, so hopefully everyone with ideas (or concerns) will feel free to express them directly on that web site, by email, or by the old fashioned telephone.

Sincerely,

Rick Malis
malis@med-psych.net

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