2014 is off to an excellent start for SSPC. Under Roberto’s leadership, the Program Committee has put the finishing touches on what will prove to be one of our best meetings ever. We received an abundance of excellent abstracts on this year’s theme of trauma. It was sometimes difficult to select the most outstanding presentations.
On the first day of our three day meeting we will have plenary sessions, award winning lectures, a film festival, and a poster session focused primarily on the theme of trauma. On days two and three we have organized 15 first rate symposia. Apparently the word is already spreading about the meeting since registration is at an all time high with more than 2 months to go. If you haven’t yet made your plans, this is one SSPC meeting you won’t want to miss. Our recently upgraded website is getting better with age and the contributions of our hard working membership. Although we had some glitches in the process of accepting your annual dues and registration for the annual meeting, most of these understandable problems are now fixed. (Thanks to Liz and our very competent new web manager Bahman Mahdavi.)
We have just opened a section of the SSPC website for members only. I encourage you to enter that section from the Home Page and complete the information section on the Profile Page so that other members can contact you, learn about your interests and professional activities, and you can reach out to them in return. Over time, with everyone contributing to this section, we will develop a very valuable communication instrument, (better, I predict, than Facebook and LinkedIn, where I never go.)
In the Members Only section you should also sign up for your free online subscription to the journal, Transcultural Psychiatry. Finally, by the time you have read this letter our videoconferencing program (produced and directed by Sadeq Rahimi) will have been launched. Sadeq has planned an exciting rotation of monthly discussions, alternating between clinical cases, interviews with authors of recently published articles in the field, and conversations with investigators of current research projects. You won’t want to miss your Society’s exciting venture into the digital age.
With all these changes, and more planned, we need your help. We have openings on several committees as well as positions on the Board, so please volunteer for something that interests you. Please tell your colleagues about our work, collegiality, and encourage them to join SSPC and come to our meeting in May.
Welcome to 2014 and the next phase of SSPC! I look forward to seeing you in San Diego.
