Guest Blog: Reflection on the 2021 Indiana Psychiatric Society Conference
As part of PRMS’ ongoing efforts to support the behavioral healthcare community and promote the organizations that work towards this mission, we are pleased to feature Dr. Halimah Y. Oral, PGY-3 in Psychiatry at Indiana University and member of the Indiana Psychiatric Society, as a guest blogger this month. Dr. Oral reflects on her first experience attending the 2021 IPS Regional Integrated Mental Health Conference, in which PRMS is a Platinum Sponsor.
As a third-year resident at Indiana University, I have never been happier that I chose psychiatry. The human mind is and always has been fascinating to me, and I just keep learning new ways to approach and understand it. I also enjoy this field because I enjoy my fellow psychiatrists, so the Indiana Psychiatric Society (IPS) Regional Integrated Mental Health Conference (RIMHC) on October 29-31, 2021, had a good selection of all the things I like about my career!
This was my first time attending RIMHC in-person – I had heard from others that prior meetings were much more crowded and had more extended and intimate social events, but not having anything to compare it to, I thought it was a very fun and friendly environment. I was able to have impromptu chats with various psychiatrists practicing throughout the state, and they were all interesting and awesome people, just like you would expect psychiatrists to be. My fellow residents and I also had some memorable experiences exploring the town of West Baden Springs, IN, and visiting a genuinely terrifying haunted house.
The lectures were also interesting, featuring talks on recent advances in psychiatry. I especially liked the presentation on how to be a psychiatrist – how to deal with your student loan debt and how to avoid being sued for malpractice.
When I joined IPS, I thought I would learn what the political climate was like around mental health in the state, and IPS has developed my insight in that respect. While it is interesting to hear about discussions in the legislature and even contribute indirectly to those discussions, the IPS events have also been a source of information on new treatments that I can use to help patients. I have been able to learn more about new interventions, like ketamine and TMS, that I might otherwise not have known about, and have heard detailed conversations between physicians and vendors on how those treatments can be incorporated into our practice as psychiatrists.
Overall, IPS has given me the chance to connect with other psychiatrists in a diverse range of practice settings and stages of their careers, which has helped me understand more of what the road ahead looks like and my place in the future. Since joining IPS, my primary initiative has been connecting my fellow IU residents to IPS throughout the pandemic and making sure that the new resident classes know this golden opportunity exists!
Dr. Brian Hart (center), IPS President-elect, presented the PRMS resident achievement award to Dr. Halimah Oral (right) at the 2021 RIMHC with David Cash (left), JD, LLM, PRMS Associate Director of Risk Management.
To learn more about the superior insurance program and comprehensive services offered by PRMS, click here.