Thank you to our Campaign for America's Kids (CFAK) donors whose CARE and generosity funded innovative and essential programs in 2011.

CFAK Connects - Early Career Psychiatrists Connect Program
CFAK Advocates - Advocacy Day Outreach
CFAK Recruits - Medical Student Recruitment Video
CFAK Educates - Summer Medical Student Fellowships

Early Career Psychiatrists Connect Program
The Early Career Psychiatrists Connect Program aims to connect early career psychiatrists (ECPs) with their regional organizations (ROCAPS) to increase the available training, resources, and mentors available to those trying to navigate their career options. Seven ROCAPS received grants of $2,000 each to sponsor educational and networking events for ECPs within their regions to strengthen the field by bridging the gap between ECPs and more experienced physicians. Programs include workshops to illustrate the richness, and breadth of child and adolescent psychiatry with enthusiastic ROCAP members and potential mentors, a tailored program for specific issues faced by Nebraska physicians, and sessions on how to integrate advocacy with your practice or research goal.

Congratulations to the following ROCAPS on receiving the first award: Colorado, Nebraska New England, New York, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey! A second application date is August 1, 2011 for ROCAPS to take advantage of the opportunity to engage ECPs.

Learn how the ECP Connect Program started! 

Advocacy Day Outreach
AACAP held its seventh annual Advocacy Day on April 8, 2011. Over 230 attendees, including 57 parents and youth, 45 residents, and 18 medical students, braved the rain and a possible government shutdown to visit more than 200 Congressional offices across 40 states in order to raise awareness of legislation that benefits child and adolescent psychiatrists and their patients.

CFAK provided funding for more than 40 parents and children to attend and provide compelling accounts during the Congressional visits. The first person narratives of their struggles for access to psychiatric services provide an emotional perspective that result in more effective communication of AACAP's policies.

For the first time, CFAK also funded travel scholarships matched by AACAP regional organizations for 19 child and adolescent psychiatry residents to attend. By engaging child and adolescent psychiatrists residents in advocacy while still in their training, we are educating them on the role that advocacy can play in their professional lives and preparing them to be lifelong voices for children with mental illnesses.

Our advocates spoke with their Congressional offices about prevention and access to child psychiatric services; preservation of mental health funding, funding for the loan forgiveness program for children's behavioral health providers and pediatric subspecialists, and passage of the Mental Health in Schools Act of 2011 and the Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011.

Read about AACAP's 2011 Advocacy Day in AACAP News. 

Medical Student Recruitment Video
The Medical Student Recruitment Video is a tool aimed at medical student recruitment, and ultimately reducing the shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists. The AACAP Workforce Issues Committee spearheaded the production of this video which will feature five diverse individuals and how they selected a career in child and adolescent psychiatry. The video promotes awareness and understanding of child and adolescent psychiatry, which is often not included in a medical school's curriculum.

Watch the Medical Student Recruitment Video as it premieres in October at the AACAP/CACAP Joint Annual Meeting in Toronto!

Summer Medical Student Fellowships
The Summer Medical Student Fellowships' main goal is to grow the workforce through mentorship and recruitment programs for medical students. This year AACAP received 25 applications and awarded 6 fellowships for medical students who will have the opportunity to explore a career in child and adolescent psychiatry, gain valuable work experience, and meet distinguished child and adolescent psychiatrists.. Recipients receive a stipend of $3,500 to work with a child and adolescent psychiatrist mentor for 8-12 weeks on a research project in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry. Recipients will receive travel support to attend the AACAP/CACAP Joint Annual Meeting to present their research during a New Research Poster session and participate in the Mentorship Program, Career Development Forum, scientific sessions, and networking events.

Since 2008 CFAK has funded a total of 36 medical student fellows. Of the students who have graduated from medical school, 80% matched in the field of psychiatry and 20% in pediatrics.

Meet the CFAK Summer Medical Student fellows from 2010!