Tori DeLucia, M.D.
Having been a part of the APA assembly last year as a non-voting member, I noticed that a recurring theme was
membership. Given my position as a PsychSIGN representative, I thought about how the APA could reach out to
medical students and maintain this relationship throughout residency.
Last year, I served as Region 3 Chair of PsychSIGN. I helped to put on a conference in Philadelphia along with the
Region 2 Chair, Charles Hall, a current MS IV. This was an incredibly valuable experience for me on multiple levels. I
paid for transportation out of my own pocket. Charles used his school's resources to print programs and make name
tags. We were unable to provide lunch for our attendees. Despite our financial challenges, I believe that our
conference was incredibly successful. What I took from this is that medical students are an untapped, undervalued
resource. Medical students do not need many APA dollars; they need to be more thoroughly integrated into the
psychiatric community.
As a student of political science in undergraduate, I learned that one of the major disadvantages of democracy is the
lack of continuity in leadership. I am excited to run for MITTE, in part because the ideas put forth by past and current
MITTs are in line with my own thoughts and ambitions. The goals set forth are ones that I'm interested in furthering.
Membership

Increased involvement of medical students with regular communication with PsychSIGN

Increased involvement of residents by continuing past MITT idea of online forums, but expanded with
scheduled meetings on specific topics, such as "educational concerns," "diversity training," and "getting involved
in research"

Continue past MITT mentorship idea; consider creating a more standardized experience for residents
interested in academic psychiatry with medical students
Education

Focus on integrating and streamlining current fellowship programs, while continuing to maintain and
possibly broaden the current fellowships available.
Government Involvement

Loan repayment is a continued priority

Advocacy for our patients and our profession is paramount to confronting stigma in both public perception
and to maintain membership.
Timeline/Two Year Plan
March 2014: Set up themed online forum every 15 days for input from residents across the nation
May 2014: Officer transition; integrate ideas from forum with past plans and future areas of interest, assessing
feasibility and creating long term goals
June 2014-May 2015:
Create regular meeting times with PsychSIGN chair to communicate needs as medical students have no voting
privileges
Create regular meeting times with ECP representative to understand challenges that senior residents will face for
smoother transitions
Develop action papers based on feasible areas of improvement from current residents and medical students.
June 2015-May 2016: Given flexible schedule of PGY-3, dedicate at least a half day each week to MITT business.
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