Page 12 - May June 2022 Newsletter FINAL_Neat

APA 2022 Assembly Meeting Update

The Day the Doctors Fell Ill

Raymond Reyes, MD

Between the 19th and the 26th of May, psychiatrists from around the world convened in New Orleans for
two back-to-back meetings. The APA Assembly, with delegates from every District Branch, met from the
20th through the 22nd. Eight meeting delegates from NCPS (Please confirm this number) included Dr. Bar-
bara Weissman, newly installed as the Area 6 Trustee, and Dr. Adam Nelson, APA Assembly Speaker. Po-
sition statements and action papers reviewed, discussed, and voted upon included matters pertaining to

psychiatric education, board certification and maintenance, global issues including but not limited to cli-
mate change and is influence on mental health, and the social determinants of mental health - itself the
theme of the APA Annual Meeting which followed immediately about the time the Assembly concluded

its business.
But there is a different reason for which I prepare this essay: at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting, five

NCPS psychiatrists came down with symptoms of the coronavirus. Each of us was tested, and four results
were positive. I had a negative result, unconvincing because my symptoms were eerily similar to those of
my friends.

We had a dinner event in New Orleans attended by a majority of the delegates from Area 6. Many brought
their family members, and it was a rousing good time. I can't overemphasize how critical it is to experience
professional colleagues as persons and among their families. Such a gathering isn't regularly scheduled.

Area 6 meets about 4 times a year, most recently on a remote, virtual basis until last month.
The next in-person APA Assembly then Annual Meeting is in San Francisco in May of 2023. So eagerly do I
await this, that I've already booked a hotel room for that week. Here is my question for you, the reader: is

the risk of becoming ill of a coronavirus syndrome worth taking: for a week-long scientific convention, a
shorter Assembly activity, or both? I suspect that isolationism will be the defense selected by some psychi-
atrists regardless of their loyalty to our specialty society.

At the time I write this I have yet to fully recover from my symptoms. I've missed three days of work this
week. Knowing what this illness is like, how rundown and overall ineffective I have felt, would it be worth
it to undergo a possible re-exposure a year hence? Before my trip I documented two vaccinations and re-

ceived two booster inoculations. But we were all exposed to a week in a completely different city.
Knowing myself, it would be unlikely that I would pass up the meetings for next year.

But I want what none of us can have, which is a guarantee of robust health.

Continued on page 13
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PSYCHIATRIC SOCIETY Page 12 May/June 2022