Psych conference reviews?

[fiatslug]

Thought it might be fun to do a conference review thread. I'd really like to know more about psych conferences, esp the not-so-famous ones. I've only been to one conference--b/w the poverty of residency and birthing 2 babies during training, it just wasn't realisitc for me to do it.

The one conference I've been to was the Nevada Psychopharmacology Conference (last year) --it's coming up again in Feb: http://www.nvpsychiatry.org/psychopharmacology-conference. I thought it was very high yield and learned a lot. Great speakers, I went to every single lecture! Downsides: it's at a hotel that's a 15 min cab ride from the strip 👎. Which is probably why I went to all of the lectures 😛. The hotel itself has decent accomodations but the restaurants suck and there's nothing around there. There was not a lot of pharma whoring at this one, though there was one hosted lunch that I skipped.

This conference is not to be confused with the Las Vegas Psychiatric Society Conference, apparently a splinter group from the Nevada Psychiatric Society--some scandal about the president embezzling funds from NPS (Nevada--shocking, I know!). Anyway, LVPS puts on its own conference on the strip at the same time: http://www.lvpsychiatricsociety.org/. This year the LVPS arguably has bigger name speakers (Nasrallah, Nemeroff, Schatzberg).

I'd like to go to APA, AACAP, the AACAP psychopharm conf that I think is annually in LA. I'd also really like to go to a CBT conference.

Any to review?

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[NoNoNoNo]

College for problems on drug dependence is great, informative, pretty laid back, and fun.

 

[nitemagi]

American Psychosomatic Society (APS) is very educational, 90% research based, a lot of psychologists and psychology students presenting papers and studies on inflammation and immune modulation in normals and in those with mental/other illnesses, and common studies on moderators on death in those that have had MI's and then get depressed. Interesting stuff if you're interested in research and in mind/body or psychosomatics. MD's are a definite minority, though there are some, and the president is an MD (Michael Irwin - UCLA).

American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) is a good annual meeting, always held right around halloween. Good to get general education on the material, even if you're not boarded in forensics. There's a reception for students, residents, fellows, applicants, and there's often a variety of topics (from a mock trial to studies of murder-suicide or serial killers, to civil law). I've gone for the last 4 years and it seems the quality has diminished a little each year. There's also a very good board review course which supposedly covers all the major areas in forensics and I've heard stories of non-fellowship trained psychiatrists doing this 3-day course to feel a good grasp on forensic issues.

 

[Doc Samson]

My two favorites:

Association for Academic Psychiatry (AAP - our forum's co-sponsor) is a very laid back meeting that addresses psychiatric education at all levels from medical student to CME. Very welcoming to new members and trainees and a great way to meet program directors and department chairs from across the US and Canada in one place. Nashville in Sept 2012 and Charleston in Sept 2013.

Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine (APM) is the meeting for the practical nuts and bolts practice of CL psychiatry (versus the American Psychosomatic Society which is very heavily research oriented). Great group of folks spanning all levels of training and career. The meeting has gotten MUCH bigger than it used to be (~800 attendees this past November in Phoenix), but still maintains a nice intimate feel. Also very welcoming to trainees and early-career folks (has a specific meeting track laid out for them). November 2012 in Atlanta.

Have also heard great things about the American Neuropsychiatric Association (ANPA) meeting. Will be attending for the first time this March in New Orleans.

 

[kugel]

I haven't been to this one in several years, but I was quite impressed
University of Arizona Psychopharmacology Review Course

And I attended this one last spring, and was pretty impressed
American Physician Institute - Master Psychopharmacology

This thread is a GREAT idea, thank you for posting!
Any thoughts on how to get the most useful instruction for your money at APA?

 

[Flushot]

What is everyone's thought on attending the APA conference this May as 3rd year? I was thinking about going for networking purposes but I'm curious if it is worth it. I have to thank everyone for sharing their list of conferences. I'll have to check those out later.

 

[pysch4sure]

Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine (APM) is the meeting for the practical nuts and bolts practice of CL psychiatry... Great group of folks spanning all levels of training and career.

I know this particular forum is for doctors, but I feel that we wanna-be-psychiatrists have a place here too! And in that regard, I'd like to point out that the APM meetings are, in practice, only for fully-trained psychiatrists. In Florida, 2010 there were many (wonderful!) attendings, a few residents, and no med students to speak of. And it's no mystery because the fees that are charged both for membership and for attending the conferences are, in my opinion, ridiculous. A discounted student rate of around $100 to join and $250 to attend meetings? That doesn't foster a feel of intimacy, but rather exclusivity.

Again, that's from a med student's perspective.

The APA is far more accommodating: free membership and free entry for us. They do draw a diverse crowd spanning all levels of training. I've heard that used as a criticism, but in practice I end up enjoying the incredibly varied presentations a lot more.

If you enjoy any aspect of psychiatry, you'll find something fun at the APA meetings. Like meeting Rev Tutu. That was cool 🙂

 

[Doc Samson]

I know this particular forum is for doctors, but I feel that we wanna-be-psychiatrists have a place here too! And in that regard, I'd like to point out that the APM meetings are, in practice, only for fully-trained psychiatrists. In Florida, 2010 there were many (wonderful!) attendings, a few residents, and no med students to speak of. And it's no mystery because the fees that are charged both for membership and for attending the conferences are, in my opinion, ridiculous. A discounted student rate of around $100 to join and $250 to attend meetings? That doesn't foster a feel of intimacy, but rather exclusivity.

Again, that's from a med student's perspective.

The APA is far more accommodating: free membership and free entry for us. They do draw a diverse crowd spanning all levels of training. I've heard that used as a criticism, but in practice I end up enjoying the incredibly varied presentations a lot more.

If you enjoy any aspect of psychiatry, you'll find something fun at the APA meetings. Like meeting Rev Tutu. That was cool 🙂

Fair point about the finances for students, but none of the subspecialty organizations will have the deep pockets of the APA in regards to offsetting expenses. This past meeting we had a LOT of residents who seemed to have a great time. More than a third of the posters were presented by trainees.

 

[sunlioness]

I'm finally going to my first ever APA this May. 😀 Doesn't hurt that I'm from suburban Philly so it's a trip home using conference days instead of vacation. I'm looking forward to it though and would love to meet up with folks.

 

[pysch4sure]

Fair point about the finances for students, but none of the subspecialty organizations will have the deep pockets of the APA in regards to offsetting expenses.

I'm not asking anyone to offset traveling expenses. But med students who merely show up should be given more of a discount for attending, and it should be free if you bring original research.

The cost vs benefits are clear: more interested med students would mean more research, and increased applicant #s. And don't worry, I doubt you'd be inundated with students looking for a free meal and a tote bag. You'd attract a handful of us that are willing to pay the $$ for a flight, hotel, taxi, etc to get a taste of that particular field. I'm not a stellar applicant, but if you make your conferences more accessible, you'd likely attract someone who is

That's why I like the APA; it's sort of the Unitarian of medical conferences (well, that and the APHA). Maybe your Latter Day Saints club is more fun, but since you won't let me peek in your Temple, how would I know?

This past meeting we had a LOT of residents who seemed to have a great time. More than a third of the posters were presented by trainees.

I'll not argue your statistic re: posters, but I will say that only holds if you include those in fellowship training, and even then...that might be pushin it.

I will add that, in my limited experience, psychiatry subspecialties are a lot more accommodating than other professional societies who DO have deep pockets. I've paid anywhere from $600-1000 for the privilege of presenting at major medical conferences that aren't psych related, and that's rediculous. My school was kind enough for pay for those, but I still felt I was being taken advantage of. Plus psychiatrists are actually nice people, but that's another thread altogether! 🙂

EDIT: oops, I just realized you were referring to the posters from this past meeting which I did not attend. So, I take it what you say is true, that the crowd is becoming more diverse now

 

[whopper]

For forensic psychiatry, anything done by Phil Resnick is well-done. He makes his lectures humorous, and he's highly personable. For you non-forensic psychiatrists, Resnick is the "rock star" of forensic psychiatry, having done several headlining cases and having advanced the fields of several aspects of forensic psychiatry. Doug Mossman, if he's on his game is also a great lecturer. He often-times incorporates a piano satire kinda like Mark Russell. Sometimes, unfortunately, the lecture hall has no piano. He's the "scientist" of forensic psychiatry, having advanced the science of predicting future violence, adding statistical applications to evaluations, even advancing the field of statistics itself in this pursuit.

AAPL-it's certainly an eye opener for non-forensic psychiatrists because most have no training whatsoever in this field and are curious about several of the issues presented there such as malingering.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

..
That's why I like the APA; it's sort of the Unitarian of medical conferences (well, that and the APHA). Maybe your Latter Day Saints club is more fun, but since you won't let me peek in your Temple, how would I know?
...

Analogy WIN! 😀

May as well put in a plug for AAAP (Addiction Psych). We'll happily let you peek in our temple!
Some (very limited) travel awards available for trainees. Like AAP (Academic Psych) also a fairly low key, more intimate meeting.

 

[pingouin]

To add, APA has a completely separate free conference just for medical students in conjunction with the annual meeting.

And AACAP (child and adolescent) is free for medical students in exchange for acting as a monitor for two sessions- which is maybe 4-5 hours total while you get to watch some interesting talks.

 

[pysch4sure]

Analogy WIN! 😀

May as well put in a plug for AAAP (Addiction Psych). We'll happily let you peek in our temple!

Thank you for the compliment Sir.

I had a look, and your temple looks lovely 🙂 On your advice I am now a member of said organization.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Thank you for the compliment Sir.

I had a look, and your temple looks lovely 🙂 On your advice I am now a member of said organization.

Welcome to the Dark Side.

(Please be advised that though it resembles one, the picture on the web page is NOT an actual Temple of Addiction Psychiatry. It is merely the hotel where we will (sadly temporarily) meet in 2012.)

 

[jpnmed]

That's why I like the APA; it's sort of the Unitarian of medical conferences (well, that and the APHA). Maybe your Latter Day Saints club is more fun, but since you won't let me peek in your Temple, how would I know?

A little off-topic.
As someone who is a former Latter-day Saint I can say that the real club is not very fun and you're not missing out on the temple either. Just silly outfits, secret handshakes, and chanting.

 

[pysch4sure]

A little off-topic.
As someone who is a former Latter-day Saint I can say that the real club is not very fun and you're not missing out on the temple either. Just silly outfits, secret handshakes, and chanting.

Good to know. I do enjoy silly outfits, and secret hand shakes sound fun, but it does seem a rather high price to pay, especially as fraternities require less commitment

In all seriousness, I hope you are still on good terms with your family. Full-blown shunning/excommunicating is out of style with most faiths these days, but the LDS church seem to be big fans of that particular tradition.

 

[jpnmed]

Good to know. I do enjoy silly outfits, and secret hand shakes sound fun, but it does seem a rather high price to pay, especially as fraternities require less commitment

In all seriousness, I hope you are still on good terms with your family. Full-blown shunning/excommunicating is out of style with most faiths these days, but the LDS church seem to be big fans of that particular tradition.

Luckily my family is cool. All of them are out of the religion besides my mom who is very liberal and accepting. The Mormon church doesn't have shunning as a policy, but some members still take it upon themselves to shun. I wouldn't care if I was excommunicated, but I haven't done anything to merit excommunication. Stopping attendance doesn't merit such an action.

 

[fiatslug]

My colleague went to the Nevada Psychopharmacology Conference this year (annually in Feb, see my first post) and gave it rave reviews.

Any Bipolar conferences out there? The only one I've found is biennially, with the upcoming conference in Istanbul. Which would be amazing, but dude, I have littles at home. And I'm thinking my hospital won't fund something like that anyway 😛

The Institute for the Advancement of Human Behavior ( http://www.ibh.com/ ) has some interesting conferences with CME for CBT and ACT (Acceptance and Committment in psychoTherapy). I'd love to do a CBT conference with David Burns.

And here is a link webinar series (with CME) on neuroscience: http://www.nicabm.com/brain-2012/?ap_id=760156
Dan Seigel, Norman Doidge, Sharon Begley... some heavy hitters in neuroplasticity. And Daniel Amen 😎

Other conferences or CME opportunities out there??

 

[aphenomenon]

I like Association for the Advancement of Philosophy & Psychiatry which occurs every year free of charge down the street from the APA

 

[LM02]

The most prominent "CBT conference" would be the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. http://www.abct.org

For bipolar, the ICBD (which is different from ISBD) is also hosted biannually - but is always in the US (always in Pittsburgh, but finally breaking out to FL in 2013). I think ICBD and ISBD alternate years so that there is one US and one international in alternate years.

 

[fiatslug]

The most prominent "CBT conference" would be the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. http://www.abct.org

For bipolar, the ICBD (which is different from ISBD) is also hosted biannually - but is always in the US (always in Pittsburgh, but finally breaking out to FL in 2013). I think ICBD and ISBD alternate years so that there is one US and one international in alternate years.

The ABCT conference doesn't give CME credits 😡. The ICBD in June 2013 in Miami looks like it's being co-sponsored by the ISBD...

 

[digitlnoize]

The ABCT conference doesn't give CME credits 😡. The ICBD in June 2013 in Miami looks like it's being co-sponsored by the ISBD...

I would just like to take a moment to say that I hate acronyms. 😡

 

[kugel]

I would just like to take a moment to say that I hate acronyms. 😡

I would just like to take a moment to say that I am annoyed by people who don't know the difference between acronyms and initials

 

[digitlnoize]

I would just like to take a moment to say that I am annoyed by people who don't know the difference between acronyms and initials

Hey, ABCT is totally a word!!!

 

[twright]

I prefer the Institute on Psychiatric Services to the general APA meeting. If you're interested in services research or community psychiatry, it would be a good conference to go to.

 

[samwise2]

AACAP has good travel awards and is free to students if you get a letter from your Dean to help you get a student membership. It's a great conference for becoming exposed to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and their mentoring program (which you can sign up for as a student) is FANTASTIC! 😀

 

[fiatslug]

So I did go to a CBT conference with David Burns MD and really enjoyed it 👍 . Would highly recommend it. He's a bit of a narcissist, but he comes by it honestly 🙂

Any OCD conferences y'all would recommend? I haven't chosen a conference to go to this year... Still haven't ever gone to APA!

 

[jackson1]

Anyone know of a good conference that's friendly towards med students coming up in the spring? The AAP conference this summer in Hawaii sounds awesome but is unfortunately not very likely on a student loan budget. Thanks!

 

[imp3tigo]

One of the only mailing lists I got added to that I find to be useful is the newsletter from Physician Travel & Meeting Guide (http://www.ptmg.com/). They periodically (every month or couple months) send out an email newsletter that lists a bunch of psychiatry conferences around the country. I would recommend registering on the site and getting on the newsletter mailing list (or you can just search on the website, but do need to register to do any searches) if you like to attend random psychiatry conferences for education and/or fun.

 

[fiatslug]

One of the only mailing lists I got added to that I find to be useful is the newsletter from Physician Travel & Meeting Guide (http://www.ptmg.com/). They periodically (every month or couple months) send out an email newsletter that lists a bunch of psychiatry conferences around the country. I would recommend registering on the site and getting on the newsletter mailing list (or you can just search on the website, but do need to register to do any searches) if you like to attend random psychiatry conferences for education and/or fun.

Oooh, great tip, thanks!

Oh and this year, the Nevada Psychopharm Conference *is* at a hotel on the Strip 👍.