[June 1995; Vol. 22 No. 3]
Paul A. McClelland, M.D., the 47th president of the Maryland Psychiatric Society, begins his one-year term after previous work for the Society on the Ethics and Program committees, the Council and the Executive Committee.
Born in rural New York state, Dr. McClelland graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Syracuse University. After moving to Baltimore to pursue graduate work in physics at Johns Hopkins, he married Ruth (Peg) Sutton, also from upstate New York, and left graduate school to teach at Western High School in Baltimore. He then completed medical school and residency training in Psychiatry at the University of Maryland.
Dr. McClelland spent 3 years as the chief of psychiatry at the Maryland Shock Trauma Unit, a position which fostered career-long interests in consultation-liaison psychiatry and neuropsychiatry. He has published and lectured on the psychiatric sequelae of closed head injuries, his area of greatest interest. After 9 years as the chief of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at the University of Maryland, Paul was appointed to his current position as Chairman of Psychiatry at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC).
While at Shock Trauma, Dr. McClelland’s duties included designing a psychiatric component for the state’s Emergency Medical Services program. In a collaborative effort with the Mental Hygiene Administration separate, but coordinated, training programs were developed for EMT’s, police officers, and emergency room personnel. Another inter-disciplinary effort, funded by the Kennedy Foundation, trained developmentally disabled individuals to serve as personal care attendants for quadriplegics. Dr. McClelland’s interest in working with diverse groups and at the interface between different organizations is reflected in his current position, which includes efforts to create closer ties between GBMC and its neighbor, Sheppard Pratt.
The McClellands live in Ellicott City. Mrs. McClelland resigned from her position as a vice president at USF&G several years ago to raise their two sons, who are now 14 and 17. She volunteers for 20 hours a week at the Office on Aging, serves on the Board of Directors for the Children’s Home in Catonsville, and manages the Centennial High School ice hockey team. Dr. McClelland’s interests include local history, music, astronomy and travel.