Welcome to OPA's 96th Annual Conference
Welcome to the 2016 Ontario Psychiatric Association’s Annual Conference! On behalf of the Education Committee, it is our pleasure to welcome you again to the Omni King George Hotel for a wonderful weekend of learning and connecting with your peers. As your provincial association, we take seriously the advocating for and supporting our profession. We are looking forward to you joining us for two days of self-care and learning in a fun and relaxing environment.
We hope that the content of our Conference and opportunities to interact with your peers/colleagues will allow you to move the profession forward as we keep mental health on the provincial agenda. We look forward to meeting you through the Conference and interacting with you at the various offerings this weekend.
This has been another year of challenges and changes for Ontario physicians, including Ontario psychiatrists. The Conference will open with the plenary session presented by Dr. Catherine Zahn on Social Responsibility. The topic of her presentation echoes our Conference theme which remains ever relevant to the profession of psychiatry. As the shifting landscape of not only psychiatry but also mental health more broadly means that our models of understanding and treatment will change, Dr. David Goldbloom will discuss possible directions for the profession of psychiatry in the coming decades and reflect on how each of us might adjust to this change.
The Conference program is well rounded and includes something for every style of practice.
Drs. Randi McCabe & Karen Rowa in their presentation "What To Do When Medication Fails? Augmenting Outcome with CBT" will review the research literature supporting the efficacy of CBT as an augmentative strategy in the treatment of anxiety disorders as well as factors that increase the suitability for a client to benefit from CBT and commonly used CBT strategies that can be incorporated into the care of patients with anxiety disorders, taking into account clinician experience, patient characteristics, and time constraints.
Dr. Jenny Shaw from the UK will present on "Suicide in Mental Health Patients and the Criminal Justice System".
Dr. Barry Rosenfeld will discuss the role of psychologists in working with survivors of torture in his presentation "The Psychology of Torture: Part of the solution, the problem, or both?". He has a deep understanding of the potential pitfalls when mental health professionals are involved in torture. This discussion will include a review of clinical-legal issues and the involvement of psychologists in legal matters encountered by refugees, asylum seekers and prisoners.
This year's Jane Chamberlin lecture will focus on the Current Best Practice Recommendations for the use of Antipsychotics. The reintroduction of clozapine in the early 1990s, followed shortly thereafter by the introduction of a number of so-called ‘atypical’ antipsychotics, has had a profound impact on the treatment of schizophrenia. As well as the new medications themselves, there has been a renewed interest in schizophrenia research that has been advanced considerably by gains in technology (e.g. neuroimaging). In his presentation Dr. Gary Remington will provide an overview of of these changes.
We are sure this slate of plenary invited speakers will reinvigorate your interest and love for psychiatry. Complementing these speakers will be a wide variety of workshops and lectures on a broad array of topics.
New this year will be a series of symposia on child and adolescent, geriatric and forensic psychiatry, as well as on the matters of interest to resident members.
We are delighted to welcome back our Clinical Pearls Program for Primary Care Mental Health professionals. The program in collaboration with the OMA Section on Psychiatry and the OMA Section Primary Care Mental Health will provide an excellent educational opportunity for GP & FP physicians, as well as enable them to network with their colleagues in the field of psychiatry.
Finally, we hope that you will join us at the Gala Dinner on Friday night. To keep the biopsychosocial model of mental health, please join your colleagues for good food, music and revelry to attend to each of your biopsychosocial needs! Come and meet your OPA Council, let us known your thoughts, or find out how you can get involved with your provincial organization.
I would like to thank the Education Committee and Council members, especially our association manager, Halyna Troian and her staff for all their time and dedication organizing this Conference. I would also like to thank all the speakers for their participation, but most importantly, to you for attending and supporting the Ontario Psychiatric Association at its Annual Meeting.
We are looking forward to seeing you at the conference. Please come and enjoy what we have to offer.
Gary Chaimowitz, MB, ChB, FRCPC
Co-Chair, OPA Education Committee
Mark Kaluzienski, MD, FRCPC
Co-Chair, OPA Education Committee
Overall Conference learning objectives:
- To provide relevant updates on clinical care of psychiatric illness
- To inform and stimulate discussion on access to care-related issues
- To inform best practices of care
