The Board customarily meets five times a year: in May at the APA Annual Meeting (an organizational meeting with newly elected officers and trustees is held at this time); in September or October (sometimes during the Institute on Psychiatric Services), December and March. The Board may meet more often at the discretion of the President. Most meetings, except for the May meeting, are held in or around Washington, D.C., at a hotel near APA headquarters. The meetings generally last one and a half days, usually over a weekend (except during the annual meeting) but dates and times are set well in advance. View a schedule of upcoming board meetings. Travel lodging and meal expenses are covered for both the Trustee and Trustee-Elect to all Board meetings, except for the APA Annual Meeting. This is a brief ceremonial Board meeting. If the Fall board meeting coincides with IPS: The Mental Health Services Conference, travel funding is provided for attendance at the Board meeting, not for the full meeting.

Residents who will be in residency or fellowship training classified as APA-RFM members for the duration of the two years of this position are eligible to apply. The Trustee-Elect and Trustee positions each last for one year and begin the May following the January Annual Election. PGY-3 residents must remain in training through PGY 5 so as to be in training through the term as Trustee (through May two years after the election) and must submit a signed statement of intent to do so, prior to nomination. If a PGY 3 resident is elected Trustee-Elect, but changes plans such that he/she is no longer in training during PGY-5, he/she will forfeit the Trustee position. Residents may recommend themselves or be recommended by others. The resident elected as Trustee and Trustee-elect cannot, while serving, simultaneously belong to or hold a position on the Assembly Committee of Area RFM Representatives, any APA/American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF) fellowship, or as a RFM Area Representative or Deputy Representative.

1. APA Board of Trustees Nomination Application: Bio-sketch and abbreviated CV; personal statement; letter(s) of recommendation; disclosure of interests and affiliations; time commitment agreement; ethics, investigation, and litigation statement.
   • The personal statement supporting his/her recommendation (up to 500 words) should address the following questions: What would your particular skills and experience bring to the APA? Or: In your opinion, what is the major issue facing the psychiatry and how should APA address it?
2. Completed RFM Trustee Nomination Release Form (.pdf) submitted to [email protected].

September 1

APA's Election Office at [email protected].

ACORF Representatives and Deputy Representatives serve as a:

• reference and referral group for the Assembly when seeking input on actions or proposed actions affecting RFMs
• centralized coordinating group with other groups representing RFM interest in the APA
• voice regarding issues before the Assembly and Area Councils

The ACORF (then called ACOM) was added to the Assembly of the APA in 1987, during the speakership of Roger Peele, M.D. The concept of providing representation for APA members during psychiatric postgraduate training developed during the mid-1980’s, during the era of transition from the “Assembly of District Branches” to the “Assembly of the APA”, which would include specific representation for under-represented an d professionally distinct groups within the organization. The formation of ACORF was preceded by inclusion in the Assembly of delegates representing women psychiatrists, racial and ethnic minority identified psychiatrists, and gay and lesbian psychiatrists, and followed by the addition of representation for allied professional organizations and international medical graduates. Since that time, ACORF has provided a crucial link in the chain of responsible professionalism and future orientation that characterizes the Assembly of the American Psychiatric Association. The current members of ACORF take pride in this role, and send our best wishes to our young colleagues in the generations to come.

The whole Assembly gathers, which is about 300+ people, and we are seated according to Areas, and there is a top dais with the Chairpersons of each area, the trustees, the president and other executive officials, and of course the speaker. We meet in Plenary sessions, which include the whole Assembly. There will be the opening one Friday afternoon, then one on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. After the plenary sessions there usually are Area Council caucuses. We gather together in a room, usually with light refreshments provided, and debate what is coming up, what we might be bringing up, and sometimes we are "lobbied" such as by candidates for senior positions, or occasionally by people from other Areas wanting to 'push' an action paper or issue of theirs. The other addition is that many people from each of the Areas get appointed to what are called Reference Committees, which look over new Action Papers and attempt to evaluate them, sometimes suggesting major revisions, if necessary. This will then be brought to the Assembly plenary, and the author (s) of the paper will be given the choice to go ahead (which is risky if it has already been viewed negatively by the Reference Committee) or to withdraw it and have another go at it in the months before the next assembly. There are also various awards, eulogies if people who were well-known have died, and sometimes presentations by APA staff people or others on interesting issues. Adapted with permission from Joseph Berger, MD.

Interested residents and fellows should contact their District Branch for more information on their specific Area’s application process. Once logged into Psychiatry.org, check “Your Dashboard” at the top, right-hand corner of the screen for your District Branch’s contact information.

Typically, you’ll need to submit a statement of interest, CV, and letter of support from your training director in support of your candidacy. Applications are usually due around March 1, with the representative’s term beginning in May.

• Represent APA professional standards
• Attend two AMA-RFS meetings a year*
• Submit resolutions at AMA-RFS meetings in accordance with APA mission statement
• Report relevant information from AMA-RFS meetings to APA Resident-Fellow Members

*AMA-RFS meetings occur in June and November and travel expenses are covered by APA

For more information on the APA delegate position for the AMA-RFS, contact Erin Smith at [email protected].

For more information on the AMA-RFS, visit their website.

• Ability to maintain confidentiality of program information
• Availability to attend two meetings a year*
• Availability to review programs**
• Experience in consensus- building group settings
• Ability to concisely write and orally present synthesized program information
• Must be an active APA resident or fellow member

• * Travel expenses are covered by the ACGME
• ** Approximately 8-12 hours of review for each meeting)

Visit the ACGME RRC in Psychiatry website for more information.