By Meredith Lee, DO, DFAPA
Associate Professor – Department of Psychiatry
University of Virginia
I had the opportunity to attend the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA last month. It was a special trip for me because I was able to spend time with one of my sisters who had lived in the Bay Area for many years but had returned to the east coast a few years ago. We had a great time together catching up while walking around the city and eating amazing food.
I attended several high-quality lectures throughout the conference. I also was able to attend the 3 keynote lectures by Drs. Sanjay Gupta, Vivek Murthy, and Sylvia Acevedo. I went to the Convocation on Monday night where I watched our PSV members, Drs. Stephen Cunningham, Zafar Ahsan, and Faisal Mohsin, be honored as Distinguished Fellows of the APA (though Dr. Mohsin missed our photo session afterwards). Congratulations to them and all of our other PSV Distinguished Fellows this year!
One of my favorite parts of the Annual Meeting is to catch up with colleagues from both the PSV and the University of Virginia. Several of our UVA residents presented posters at this year’s meeting. We also had a few UVA faculty members present during the meeting on various topics. On Sunday evening there was a UVA reception at a local restaurant where I was able to reconnect with current and former trainees and faculty. I also had dinner one night with one of my former co-residents, who has been living in San Francisco for many years (Jake Treskovich).
Another highlight from this year’s meeting was attending the Caucus on Climate Change and Mental Health where I connected with other climate-concerned psychiatrists. I also attended a social event hosted by the President and Co-founder of Climate Psychiatry Alliance (Robin Cooper) at her home in San Francisco. I didn’t know many people there, but they were a welcoming group.
Overall, I had a great time in San Francisco connecting with colleagues and family while also learning and earning continuing education credits. I returned to Virginia feeling exhausted but also invigorated. I am looking forward to the 2027 Annual Meeting and hope to connect with my UVA and PSV colleagues in NYC next spring.
