APA membership - is it worth it?

[hamlake]

I recently graduated from residency, so I was looking into CME through APA membership. This was the first time I paid attention to their membership dues structure. The annual fees go up every year to a max of $575/year. This does not include district branch dues which end up being $100/year for my district. http://www.psychiatry.org/join-participate/becoming-a-member

I am not working in academics and probably will not be attending or presenting at very many, if any, future APA meetings. I will have access to AJP digitally through my hospital/employer. I can get quality CME elsewhere. Right now, I don't see that membership is worth the cost. Are there any other advantages of joining that I am not taking into account? Does it really matter if you can append FAPA to your signature block?

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[nitemagi]

I decided to quit this year. The dues really do get out of control.

I stayed with it for years because membership was required for membership in subspecialty groups, like AAPL.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Same here. Joined because other organizations required it. It is like your drug dealer, it starts cheap. If you quit and want back, they think you owe them all of the back pay. I think almost no one rejoins. If you enjoy participating in the organization, do it. It’s budget is mostly spent on protecting prescribing privileges. If you feel strongly about this, the money is well spent. If they got more active about the MOC thing, I would donate more.

 

[splik]

Same here. Joined because other organizations required it. It is like your drug dealer, it starts cheap. If you quit and want back, they think you owe them all of the back pay. I think almost no one rejoins. If you enjoy participating in the organization, do it. It’s budget is mostly spent on protecting prescribing privileges. If you feel strongly about this, the money is well spent. If they got more active about the MOC thing, I would donate more.

although most of APAs moneys are spent on trying to defeat RxP membership dues are not spent in this way - only funds to the APA-PAC are spent on this. Which to say they want even more of your money for this.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Same here. Joined because other organizations required it. It is like your drug dealer, it starts cheap. If you quit and want back, they think you owe them all of the back pay. I think almost no one rejoins. If you enjoy participating in the organization, do it. It’s budget is mostly spent on protecting prescribing privileges. If you feel strongly about this, the money is well spent. If they got more active about the MOC thing, I would donate more.

It's a good deal for residents, not so much later in life.

Only downside of my lapsed membership is that I no longer have a voice in my State Psychiatric Association--but I'll just let the residents speak for us on their cheap trainee memberships.

 

[Shikima]

I still keep it but with them backing down on MOC, I'm not sure it's worth it any longer. I'll keep it going for now as it's a tax deduction. Additionally, they're not really fighting to have the parity law upheld and I feel we're still not being paid appropriately for what we do.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I was a member as a resident because our state association paid all/most of the fees, but I'm not so sure about joining now. As others of you have mentioned, the MOC thing is especially annoying. They were like "hey, we'll push ABPN on this" and then "oh, never mind, you can use our great products to meet ABPN requirements." Felt a bit like a self-interested sellout.

Our state organization annoyed me because they continued to back down with little notice on benefits for residents. They initially supported things like our resident retreat but stopped doing that. One of the presidents of the state association was also surprised that residents have six figure debt levels. Not much of a physician leader if you're clueless about that.

I might join initially when it's cheap and drop out later.

 

[wolfvgang22]

I let my membership lapse back when the APA failed to push for a better bill back when the Affordable Care Act was being drafted. It became clear the APA opposed universal healthcare at that time. With their failure to oppose ridiculous MOC requirements, insane fees, and the fact I get their journal for free at work anyway, I have no use for the APA at this point. I'm not going to give them money to do the opposite of what I desire for myself and my patients.

 

[st2205]

I'm in the process of joining as a resident, only because you can do a free suboxone course.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Like I said, the first dose of opiates is free....

 

[deleted314290]

I'm in the process of joining as a resident, only because you can do a free suboxone course.

How long is the certification for?

 

[Member 1337]

I decided to quit this year. The dues really do get out of control.

I stayed with it for years because membership was required for membership in subspecialty groups, like AAPL.

I'm really struggling with this... APA dues and AACAP dues come close to $1000 per year... wtf?

And, to be honest, I tend to be more involved with the interest organizations I dig, like psychodynamics and philosophy/psychiatry, than with the "official" parent organizations - and those come w/ membership fees as well, though not as extortionary.

During residency it was more of a "Pay to Play" relationship... now I'm questioning why I'm still cutting checks...

 

[masterofmonkeys]

No MOC advocacy, no money. Friggin gangsters. RICO for everyone.

 

[asdf123g]

Is there any significant benefit for resident's to join APA?

 

[romanticscience]

Is there any significant benefit for resident's to join APA?

Access to https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/practice-management/starting-a-practice .
Discounted Suboxone training?

 

[FatherPsychiatry]

Is there any significant benefit for resident's to join APA?

I was in APA all 4 years but don't think I found much benefit. I went to APA twice but ended up being more for fun and swag (and some fortuitous networking by happenstance), rather than any significant learning. Maybe if your local APA branch is good with lots of networking opportunities, might be of some benefit, although hopefully you can make those connections sufficiently through residency. Re: discounted suboxone training mentioned above - I'd check if your program offers free training. My residency hospital was in a region with high substance abuse rates, and the hospital system itself paid for suboxone training for all doctors (not just psych).

My local branch did send me some swag every year I renewed. I bet its all stashed in the corner of an unused desk somewhere.

 

[comp1]

If they had worked on opposing MOC, I'd still be a member. This was universally requested by members and uniformly ignored.

 

[brazilianpsych]

Sorry but what is MOC? I googled it and saw there's a debate about it, is it the board exam you need to do every 10 years?

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

yes, maintenance of certification

 

[SourceOfDenial]

Uhhh, isn’t x waiver training free? Why are people joining APA for this?

I was a member for a hot minute to get cheaper malpractice policy. Quit that job, let the membership lapse. Let psychologists prescribe, I’m not going to argue with people who so desperately want to write for Zoloft.

 

[dl2dp2]

If you have zero academic/institutional role and live in a smaller market, it can be useful to anchor yourself in a national organization.

Otherwise, the money is wiser spent on local affiliated chapters and also subspecialty societies.

 

[NickNaylor]

I was involved in the APA as a resident but, at this point, don't get too much value out of it. I keep my membership active since I have more CME money than I know what to do with so there's nothing to lose.