President's Message
Dr. Kiran Rabheru
It has been my pleasure to sit as the President of CAGP for the past 10 months. The board met face-to-face last September in Vancouver to discuss the goals of the Academy for the next three years and the results of that discussion can be summarized as follows:
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Goal #1:
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- Promote the development, dissemination and utilization of Best Practices.
- Improving our infrastructure so we have better links to the different universities
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Goal #2:
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· Promote research in Geriatric Psychiatry and Senior’s Mental Health
· Develop linkages with other like-minded organizations. |
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Goal #3:
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- Education.
- Sub-specialty application
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Goal #4:
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- Improved communication (engagement, connection, enhancing our profile and dissemination)
- Review of (and improvements to) the infrastructure of the Board. Development of committees to help with the various roles and commitments of CAGP
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Goal #5:
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· Advocacy and public policy
· Attracting and managing volunteers
· Determining and accessing appropriate membership benefits |
The CAGP Board has had three major focuses in the past six-months. The first, supporting recognition of the sub-specialty of Geriatric Psychiatry through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC). The second, planning the August Montreal CAGP meeting. The third, expanding CAGP’s website to provide knowledge transfer resources.
Website
The website is currently being updated on a regular basis. A new feature is the members only Discussion Forum providing members the opportunity to ask questions of each other or those they consider experts. We encourage all members to begin using this Discussion Forum — think of it as a Geriatric Psychiatry Q&A. In the upcoming months, you will find more documents posted under the Members Only Section.
Update on Sub-specialty Application
In mid August 2007, the CAGP, with the support of the CPA, submitted Part I of the Application for Recognition of Geriatric Psychiatry to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC). In early 2009, CAGP submitted Part II of the Application for Recognition and I am very pleased to announce that the Committee on Specialties (COS) has formally accepted the application for recognition for Geriatric Psychiatry as a sub-specialty. On behalf of the entire Board of CAGP, I wish to congratulate all those individuals and organizations that worked so very hard and supported this effort over many, many years. I would like to recognize in particular, the relentless effort and hard work of Dr. Catherine Shea and Dr. Melissa Andrew, without whom this milestone would have been extremely difficult to achieve. CAGP is leading the way in Canada as the prime organization for Geriatric Psychiatrists, a fact acknowledged by both the Royal Collage and the CPA.
CAGP 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting (August 31, 2009)
Finally, I wish to invite you all to attend this year’s CAGP Annual Scientific Meeting being held on August 31, 2009 in Montreal, Quebec. Our conference this year will overlap with the International Psychogeriatric Association’s conference providing a wonderful opportunity to meet with colleagues from around the world while gaining up-to-date knowledge on managing key issues in seniors’ mental health. This is one of those ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunities and I encourage all members to attend.
While you are at it, why not encourage everyone you know who practices Geriatric Psychiatry to join our association? It is a certainly a unique opportunity to attend both conferences — packed with highly educational and informative workshops.
On a side note, I welcome your constructive ideas, suggestions, and comments. Please feel free to contact me at kiranrabheru@hotmail.com.
Sincerely
Kiran Rabheru
CAGP President