Dear APA Colleagues,
I am writing to enthusiastically support the candidacy of Barton Blinder, MD PhD DLFAPA for President-Elect of the APA.
I first met Bart when we were both in the Assembly. It was not only a pleasure to work with him, but I never failed to learn from him. Bart is always thoughtful, measured, utterly reasonable, and unfailingly constructive. The single word I think best describes Bart is integrity. We need all these qualities in our leadership.
We also need specific qualifications, such as a broad understanding of all the major types of practice, outlooks, needs, and visions of our profession as represented in the APA. Bart comes with the background to give him such an understanding. He is in private practice of adult and child psychiatry, he is a clinical researcher, and he is an educator as Clinical Professor at University of California at Irvine. He is as well a member of the Scientific Program Committee and has been on the Practice Guideline Committee.
Bart also has extensive knowledge of the APA itself, as a past president of his District Branch and 20 years in the Assembly, including in its leadership.
Bart’s goals for a presidency are to ensure that our patients and our profession are better served and protected as the Affordable Care Act and Accountable Care Organizations are implemented, to increase access to psychiatric care, to enforce and enhance parity for our patients, to further our integration with primary care, and to increase membership in the APA and make it even more valuable.
I encourage you to visit Bart’s website for a much more detailed account of his qualifications and his goals at www.BartonBlinder.com.
I heartily encourage you to vote for Barton Blinder for President-Elect.
Jerry Rogoff, MD DLFAPA
Jerry Rogoff, MD DLFAPA
Past President Massachusetts Psychiatric Association
Past Area 1 APA Assembly Representative
Past Chief Inpatient Psychiatry at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award from Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, 2014