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June 2011 Edition  


In this issue
MPS Election Results
State Budgets Concluded
Article Headline
Summer Scientific Meeting - Register Now
Spring Scientific Meeting Recap
Stratford Festival - You should come!
Membership News
Fall Scientific Meeting - Save the Date
Editorial by Pythi

Greetings!   
Gribbin

Greetings from MPS President Denise Gribbin 

 

I would like to share a few thoughts as I leave my year as president of MPS.

 

More than ever, I am convinced of how important it is for us to speak in one voice about the issues that face our profession.  This year alone, we commented upon and challenged scope of practice, medical licensing, and draconian cuts in services that were brought before the Michigan Legislature. We will continue to be challenged by lower membership, shortages of psychiatrists (especially in rural Michigan) and the prospect of an even worse overall shortage of physicians if proposed cuts to graduate medical education funding become a reality.

 

I am proud to have made a start strengthening our ties with MSMS, which I believe is vital to our future as specialty physicians.  Our educational meetings over the past year - A Meeting of the Minds in summer 2010 in Traverse City, Psychotropic Medications, Underuse, Overuse and Misuse in fall 2010 in Grand Rapids, and Pain Management:  Where does it hurt? in spring 2011 at the Forensic Center - were successful and well-received by physicians and other clinicians around the state.  MPS has become known as one of the best sources in the state for excellent and unbiased educational programs.  I believe this is a natural place for MPS' prominence and importance as a specialty society to be showcased. This expertise can be an important point as we strive to increase membership among psychiatrists, and improve our reputation as specialty physicians among our physician and non-physician colleagues.

 

Uncertainty about the future of medicine, including our own field, is only going to grow over the next few years.  We are all so fortunate that at this particular moment in our history, we turn over the leadership of our Society to Mary Roberts, MD.  I can't think of a more competent, intelligent, and hard-working person to lead us through what is certain to be a year of some turmoil. Mary has served the Society exceptionally well as Secretary-Treasurer, and as Co-Chair (together with Leigh Anne White, MD) of our Strategic Planning Task Force, which is actively involved in plotting the long-term course for the Society.  She is active in the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists, as well as teaching and treating patients at Wayne State University.  Join me in wishing her a year of successes!

 

I must also offer my most sincere thanks to Executive Director, Kathleen Gross, and Associate Director, Wendell Simmons.  They are truly the glue that holds MPS together, and work energetically and diligently on our behalf.  The work of the MPS Council, and of the entire Society simply could not happen without them.  

 

Members, I challenge you to consider how you can be more involved in MPS.  There are many committees and projects that need your ideas and input (such as the Legislative Committee, the Fellowship Committee, the Membership Committee, the Program Committee, and the CMH Liaison Committee.)  Call or email Kathleen or Wendell at MPS and they will be happy to help you find the perfect match for your interests.

 

Finally, thank you for allowing me to serve you this year as President of MPS.  I have become better informed and more humble about the issues facing our field. More importantly, having the opportunity to witness the combined efforts of MPS members, Councilors, officers and staff exert real influence over the important issues that will shape our future, I am more optimistic than ever.  

 

Denise Gribbin, MD 



MPS Election Results

  

Jeanette Scheid, MD, PhDThe Michigan Psychiatric Society has concluded its annual election, and the results are in.  Our new President-Elect is Jeanette Scheid, MD, PhD, the former Vice President of the Society.  Dr. Scheid is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Michigan State University. In this capacity she provides clinical care to children, adolescents and adults on campus, and children and adolescents at a rural community mental health center and at a juvenile justice residential facility. Dr. Scheid completed an MD, PhD program at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in 1994 and her residency in General Psychiatry and fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh/Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in 1999. In addition to her work with MPS, Dr. Scheid is a member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Michigan Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and is an elected delegate from the Michigan Council to the AACAP Assembly.  Dr. Scheid succeeds Mary Roberts, MD who, in turn, advances to President, succeeding Denise Gribbin, MD.
Duane DiFranco, MD
Our new Secretary-Treasurer is Duane DiFranco, MD, who succeeds Lisa MacLean, MD.  Dr. DiFranco is an Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Michigan.  He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School and completed General Adult Psychiatry residency at the University of Michigan.  He is APBN Board Certified in General Adult Psychiatry.  Dr. DiFranco is currently the Medical Director for Behavioral Health at Blue Care Network of Michigan. He resides in Plymouth with his wife and five children.
Isha Salva, MD
Eric Achtyes, MDMPS welcomes Eric Achtyes, MD and Isha Salva, MD as two new members of Council.  Dr. Achtyes is a staff psychiatrist and researcher holding appointments at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services and Touchstone Innovare, both located in Grand Rapids.  He received his medical degree from the University of Michigan in 2003.  He then completed a transitional year internship at the Michigan State University Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies in 2004 before completing his adult psychiatry residency training at the MGH/McLean/Harvard program in Boston in 2007.  Dr. Salva was a board certified Psychiatrist in India. She completed her residency at Michigan State University. She is the Medical Director at the Northwood Center of Hackley Hospital in Muskegon, a campus of Mercy Health Partners and Pine Rest.

Michael Jibson, MD, PhDOur new APA Representative is Michael Jibson, MD, PhD.  Dr. Jibson is professor of psychiatry and Director of Residency Education at University of Michigan.  He has worked as an attending psychiatrist on the University Hospital inpatient unit since 1993 and for 10 years in community mental health in California and Michigan.  He graduated from the University of California Davis and completed residency training at Stanford University.  He has served on the MPS Ethics Committee since 2001, on the MPS Council since 2005, and as MPS president in 2008-09.

Gaurav Mishra, MDMPS Residents elected a new President-Elect of the Resident Physicians Section - for the third consecutive time a Resident from the training program at Wayne State University.  Our new RPS President-Elect is Gaurav Mishra, MD, who succeeds Faye Zuhairy, MD, who succeeds Laurie Boore, MD.

The Society was also able to pass the ballot proposal that changes the MPS Constitution to allow Constitutional Amendments when passed by a super majority of voting members, and Bylaw Amendments when passed by a majority of voting members.  Under the existing rules, amendments needed to be passed by a majority of one third of all members, a hurdle that had not been overcome in recent years.  Thanks to electronic voting, over 35% of members voted on the ballot proposal, allowing it to pass.

The Michigan Psychiatric Society is grateful not only to these new officers, but also to their opponents who served their profession by willingly accepting the responsibility of running for office.  Without an involved membership the Society would be unable to accomplish any of its missions.  The Society hopes that all candidates will remain involved and will continue to participate in the governance of their professional organization.

Michigan FY12 Budgets Concluded
GME impact minimized, as proposed cuts for the state's share of funding went from 40% to 99% to 19%
Thank you to Members and especially Residents who responded to that call for advocacy.  The importance of Resident Physicians was made clear to the Michigan Legislature.  We have also formally thanked Senator Roger Khan, a physician legislator and chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee who views GME as a priority for state funding. MPS is developing in-depth informational materials on Resident training programs in Michigan and their contribution to our state's workforce needs to provide to the administration and legislature.

Budget Pressures for CMH Continue
While Medicaid reimbursement was not cut, and Community Mental Health Programs received small Medicaid caseload increases, there was a 3% cut to the CMH non-Medicaid funding, making it increasingly hard for CMHs to serve uninsured and under-insured persons with mental health needs, and yet the budget contained language encouraging the CMHs to use those same general fund dollars to provide services in jails. There were also significant reductions in funding for substance use disorders.

Budget calls for including behavioral health drugs on the Medicaid Preferred Drug List
The Governor recommended, and the Legislature concurred, that $6.3 million of general fund money would be saved by instituting prior authorization for Medicaid psychiatric drugs. This would require the repeal of Act 248 of 2004 which specifically exempted most psychiatric drug classes, as well as those for epilepsy, cancer, HIV-AIDS, and organ transplants. MPS worked with CMH Medical Directors to develop alternative proposals, which have not yet received consideration from the department. MPS, along with partner advocacy groups, signed a letter that was delivered to the Governor and Legislators. While the savings amount was factored into the budget, no legislator has yet introduced a bill to repeal the protective act that was championed by former Senator Bev Hammerstrom.
 

 


An Interesting Analysis on Michigan's Mental Health Services
The Michigan Association of Community Mental Health Boards retained Anderson Economic Group to conduct an independent analysis of the costs and benefits of providing mental health services to all who need them in Michigan.  

 

A Meeting of the Minds

Save the Date - Summer Scientific Meeting

A Meeting of the Minds - July 28-30

 

The Michigan Psychiatric Society is teaming once again with the American College of Osteopathic Neurologists and Psychiatrists to present its second annual Summer Scientific Meeting, A Meeting of the Minds, 2011.  Once again, the meeting will take place at the Grand Traverse Resort, Acme, Michigan, just outside Traverse City.  The meeting, to take place from July 28 to July 30, will feature 10 speakers on psychiatric topics and 10 speakers on neurological topics. The schedule is available here. 

 

Please consider bringing the family to this outstanding facility and event.  This year the meeting will coincide with the Traverse City Film Festival, an internationally known screening of both old and new films that takes place throughout the Traverse City area.  For the musically minded, the Interlochen Center for the Arts is presenting its Summer Arts Festival with nationally famous artists performing on July 27 and 28.  Members may wish to visit the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to view the sunset over Lake Michigan, or may wish to tour the Old Mission Peninsula or the Leelanau Peninsula to taste Michigan's finest wines.  Further information is available at the Traverse City Convention and Visitor's Bureau

 

DO NOT MISS OUT!  Rooms at the Resort go fast.  Contact the reservations desk immediately to reserve you room, suite or condo. (800-236-1577)  Mention the Meeting code ACO0725 (that's the letter O followed by zero) and get the special meeting rate.  More information will be coming soon.  Please check the MPS website for more information and to find registration information, as soon as it is ready.

Spring Scientific Meeting Recap

  

Pain Management:  Where Does it Hurt? was the title of the annual Spring Scientific Meeting of the Michigan Psychiatric Society, held on April 29.   Once again it was held in and co-sponsored by the Michigan Center for Forensic Psychiatry, just south of Ann Arbor, and once again it was coordinated with Teacher Day, a meeting of psychiatric Residents from throughout the state, sponsored by the University of Michigan Psychiatric Residency Program. 

 

Three speakers addressed three separate issues in the management of chronic pain.  Randy S. Roth, PhD, from the University of Michigan, discussed recent advances in the psychological treatment of chronic pain.  Gerald Shiener, MD, from Wayne State University, discussed the forensic aspects of chronic pain.  Mark Weiner, MD, an internist and consultant at St. Joseph's Hospital in Ann Arbor discussed the links between pain treatment and addiction.  All three speakers received outstanding reviews by participants. 

 

Following lunch, Residents enjoyed two separate talks, one by Joshua Bess, MD"Evidence-Based Practice of Evidence-Based Psychiatry"  and the other by Michael Casher, MD - on "The Modern Psychiatric Inpatient Hospitalist."  To conclude the day, Brian Smith, MD, from Michigan State University, conducted a contest of psychiatric knowledge for Residents, MindGames, which was greatly enjoyed by participants.

 

The meeting was very well attended, and evaluations from participants were overwhelmingly postitive.

  

 Stratford Festival

William ShakespeareThe highlight of the autumn for many of our members is the annual trip to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.  This year members will make the trip on September 16th and 17th, earlier than usual.  In consultation with Pat Quigley, Education Director at Stratford, we have chosen one play by the Bard, Twelfth Night and one by Harold Pinter, The Homecoming.

 

Twelfth Night, to be presented on Friday evening, a cross-dressing comedy, features MPS favorite, Sara Topham as Olivia, Brian Dennehy as Sir Toby Belch, and Tom Rooney as Malvolio. The Homecoming, our Saturday matinee, also features Brian Dennehy, in addition to Mike Shara and Cara Ricketts, in an intense drama of family function and dysfunction.

 

The feature that keeps bringing our members back again and again is the Saturday morning brunch with the actors.  We meet in the attractive Eaton lounge with a couple members of the cast of one or both plays and, over coffee, tea and scones, engage in a lively and stimulating discussion of all aspects of the plays.  MPS buys tickets for the plays and distributes them to members at a discount and arranges for the reception with actors.  Please mark your calendars and plan to attend our annual Stratford trip.  Reservations can be made by completing and mailing in the registration form.

  

Membership News


MPS welcomes the following new and reinstating members  



Fall Scientific Meeting- September 30th - Please Save the Date

Save the date and plan to attend the Fall Meeting of the Michigan Psychiatric Society.  We are in the early planning stages, but do know that it will be held (as it was last year) in the beautiful Postma Center on the campus of the Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services in Grand Rapids.  The date will be September 30, 2011, to coincide with ArtPrize, the spectacular annual cultural event in Grand Rapids.  We plan to offer a full day of presentations focused on exemplary psychiatric programs in the state.  

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Psychiatrists Needed

Abaris Behavioral Health, a CARF Accrediated Agency, is seeking psychiatrists and addictionologists for outpatient clinics in Novi, Rochester, and Shelby Michigan.  You will be expected to conduct psychiatric evaluations and medication reviews via an electronic medical records system.  Please submit a cover letter and your resume via e-mail to Dr. Bradley Rockafellow, Chief Operating Officer at  [email protected] or by fax at 248-650-4343.  You can also visit us online at   abarishealth.com
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Pythi
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -- George Santayana

Thirty years ago there were antidepressant medications and anti-psychotic medications (and, of course, some other psychotropic medication categories as well). Now there are the "typicals" and the "atypicals" of both categories, and the atypicals have become what are typically used, while the typicals are atypically employed. (Go figure!) And there's more. There's nothing new or atypical about using the medications in the newer drugs in two categories (and less frequently, the older) for other indications. For example, most of the antidepressants have anti-anxiety effects, and the anti-psychotics are well known to be useful as adjunctive, or even in some situations as first choice, mood stabilizers.

So far, so good. But, perhaps we are beginning to go too far. What do I mean by "too far"? That the risks, or at least the potential risks, outweigh the (potential) benefits. As one such possibility, I offer what appears to be the increasing use of some of the more sedating atypical anti-psychotics as hypnotics. The doses needed are usually not high, but still, do we know what the risk might be, and do we believe that the risks of the use of other hypnotic agents are greater? Should tardive dyskinesia be a cautionary tale here, especially since it seems to be the case that people with neither schizophrenia nor bipolar disorder are more sensitive to at least the acute, and maybe also to the chronic, side effects of anti-psychotic drugs? Let's hope there's condemnation coming about this.

 

Mentalnote, the newsletter of the Michigan Psychiatric Society,
is edited by Oliver Cameron, MD, PhD.

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