Ruiz Elected to Lead Association of 37,000 Psychiatrists

Pedro Ruiz, M.D., professor and vice chair for clinical affairs of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, has been elected president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), winning the election by a wide margin.

Pedro Ruiz, M.D.

Ruiz began his one-year term as president-elect last month and will begin his one-year term as president in May 2006.

About 37,000 psychiatrists are members of the APA. Founded in 1844, the APA is the oldest national medical specialty society in the United States. Ruiz, who also is medical director of the UT Mental Sciences Institute, said his goals for the APA are to:

Advocate and achieve universal access for psychiatric and mental health services in the United States.
Achieve comprehensive parity of psychiatric and mental health services vis-à-vis medical and surgical services.
Advocate for a better system of psychiatric and mental health services in the criminal justice system (about 20 percent of all prison inmates in the U.S. are mentally ill), particularly the juvenile criminal justice system.
Strive for fair managed care practices for psychiatric services.
Advocate for better funding of the psychiatric public sector.
Enhance collaboration and partnership between the APA and patient-oriented organizations and groups.
Enhance the quality of psychiatric education programs for medical students and psychiatric residents in the U.S. and abroad.
Advocate for more research funding for psychiatry, particularly in the neurosciences.

Ruiz joined the APA in 1967 during his psychiatric residency. Since that time he has served in more than 40 APA components and positions, including: vice president, 2003-05; secretary, 2001-03; chair, annual meeting scientific program, 1998-2000; chair, scientific program, APA Institute on Psychiatric Services, 2002-03; chair, APA Council on International Affairs, 1994-98; and chair, APA Council on National Affairs, 1985-88.

He also is a member of the editorial board of Psychiatric Services and previously served as associate editor of The American Journal of Psychiatry and a member of the editorial board of Hospital and Community Psychiatry.

Ruiz's clinical interest is the treatment of affective and anxiety disorders. His research focuses on mental health services, cross-cultural psychiatry, psychiatric education and psychiatric administration.