Sectorial Activities - Scientific Sections




1999 - 2002

Chair: Hagop Akiskal (USA)
Co-Chair: H. S. Akiskal (USA)
Secretary: P. Forghieri (Italy)
Executive Coordinator: F. de Riba (Switzerland)
SECTION ON PRIVATE PRACTICE

SERVING THOSE WHO ARE PERSONALLY DEDICATED TO THE DAILY CARE OF THE MENTALLY ILL

Correspondence: P.O. Box 52, 1211 Geneva 25, Switzerland

INTRODUCTION

The Section on Private Practice was established in 1997 and given permanent status approval by the World Psychiatric Association in 1999.

Mission Statement
The main aim of the Section is to organize a global network of practitioners dedicated to the daily care of the mentally ill and promote and preserve the essential values that characterize the spirit and ethics of private practice.

Section Goals
  1. Promote the quality of care in the private practice
  2. Develop communication networks among practitioners around the world as well as between them and the scientific or other agencies relevant to their work
  3. Diffuse to practitioners pragmatic scientific developments that are significant to their daily practice
  4. Give visibility to ideas and findings deriving from clinical practice which are seminal for advances in the science of psychiatry and, when possible, award authors of the finest breakthroughs in the field
  5. Monitor political and economical issues influencing private practice


ORGANIZATION

Section Officers
Theodore Hovaguimian, Chair (Switzerland)
Hagop S. Akiskal, Co-Chair (USA)
Pierluigi Forghieri, Secretary (Italy)
Francis de Riba, Executive Coordinator (Switzerland)


PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES

Position Statement
A Position Statement on the essential values of private practice as well as an addendum to the WPA Declaration of Madrid has been drafted and will be submitted for review and final approval by the WPA at the next WPA XII World Congress Assembly meeting in Yokohama, Japan in August 2002.

Website
A Section on Private Practice Website with a link to the WPA Website is under development. This Website will facilitate professional networking with other private practice sections within national psychiatric societies throughout the world and offer an electronic forum for members of affiliated associations to exchange views and information.


PUBLICATIONS
The International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, a distinguished quarterly peer reviewed journal, has been designated as the official journal of the Section on Private Practice. Members of the Section who wish to subscribe to the journal will receive a reduced rate.