By G.D.Godenne, MD
[Fall 2003; Vol. 30, No. 1; Pg 3]
On Thursday, May 8th, the Maryland Psychiatric Society (MPS) held its annual dinner meeting at the St Paul Conference Center in Mount Washington. The event was spirited and well attended. Members of all ages enjoyed socializing with each other while enjoying an open bar.
When people were seated for dinner, Dr. Dina Sokal, the retiring President, officially opened the meeting. She mentioned having enjoyed her year as President. Despite her reservations on accepting the position, she had been surprised to discover that she enjoyed being a leader--so much that she had volunteered to be in charge of The Maryland Psychiatrist, as Dr. Dinah Miller is retiring after many successful years as its Editor. Dr. Sokal thanked the council members and the committee chairs for their support and their help and expressed her gratitude to the administrative staff.
Dr. Sokal started the business part of the meeting by introducing Dr. Jonas Rappeport, who presented an award from the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry and MedChi to Khiran Bhat, a high school student from Montgomery County. Among the three winners of the competition for the best essay on "When Not to Keep a Secret," Khiran was the only one able to attend the banquet. He not only printed his essay for those present, but he made a spontaneous and remarkably poised acceptance speech. (The annual competition is sponsored by the Foundation and MedChi and the winners are given savings bonds.)
Dr. Sokal presented certificates to the committee chairs recognizing their work this past year. She then introduced Dr. Robert Roca, the 2003-2004 MPS president. After Dr. Sokal elaborated on Dr. Roca's important contributions to Psychiatry and on his leadership qualities, Dr. Roca took the podium and thanked Dr. Sokal for her activities as President of the MPS. He then gave a detailed outline of what he is hoping to accomplish this year.
Dr. Roca then introduced Dr. Bruce Hershfield, this year's recipient of the MPS 2003 Lifetime of Service Award, and he talked about many aspects of Dr. Hershfield's professional career. With humor, he differentiated Dr. Hershfield from his predecessors, Drs. Lex Smith, Tom Allen and Jonas Rappeport--his height and his full head of hair! Dr. Hershfield then graciously accepted his award, thanking MPS for giving him a chance to express how meaningful being part of MPS has been for him. His speech is printed in this issue.
The meeting concluded with Dr. Sharfstein introducing Jay Scully, MD, the new Medical Director of the APA. Dr. Sharfstein spoke of his confidence in Dr. Scully, noting that the APA could not have made a better choice. Dr. Scully’s outline of what he hopes to accomplish during his tenure clearly showed why Dr. Sharfstein has so much confidence in him. He insisted that he wants to establish a dialogue between his constituents and himself and he welcomes any calls or e-mails at any time as he'd like all of us to have access to him. The meeting was adjourned around 10 pm. All left happy that they had attended.
