The American Psychological Association (APA) recently elected Susan H. McDaniel, PhD, of the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) as its new president.
“It’s a great honor, and I’m very excited about it,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel is a Dr. Laurie Sands Distinguished Professor of Families & Health, Associate Chair of the Department of Family Medicine, and Director of the Institute for the Family in the Department of Psychiatry at UR.
One of her main objectives for her upcoming term is “the integrated primary care initiative,” which will focus on incorporating a more patient-based approach to healthcare.
“I think a lot of the difficulties in the country have to do with not seeing the patient as a whole person and not including their psychosocial context when it comes to understanding their illness,” McDaniel said of the initiative. Another one of her goals is to decrease health disparities.
As APA president, McDaniel will be responsible for not only the internal governance of the APA but also for acting as a representative of the APA and of psychologists in general. McDaniel said she will be “representing American psychologists in a variety of ways.”
To run for president of the APA, a person must first be nominated by other members. The five candidates with the most nominations then travel and campaign for several months, answering questions from each of the 56 divisions of the APA.
“It’s quite the process,” McDaniel noted. With regards to the work it took to appeal to all of the divisions, she said, “Psychology is such
a diverse discipline […] from experimental animal researchers to industrial organizational consultants to practicing psychologists.”
“I think the most challenging and the most interesting part was educating myself about the many types of psychologists and what their concerns and challenges are,” McDaniel said of the campaign. She gave the example of learning more about LGBT health, stating that she knew some things in advance. During her self-education she read the Institute of Medicine’s report on LGBT health.
“I had to educate myself so that I made sure that I really understood what their issues were and how that might interact with what I’m concerned about,” she said.
McDaniel said she appreciates her role at UR.
“I’m lucky to work with a lot of very talented psychologists at the University of Rochester, whether it’s on the River Campus or at the Academic Health Center,” she said. “We have many great early-career psychologists and I’m very interested in both learning from and supporting them.”
According to the APA website, “The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. APA is the world’s largest association of psychologists, with nearly 130,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students as its members.”
Addressing the state of Psychology at UR, McDaniel said, “Psychologsits are distributed around the campus, including the Department of Psychology, the Department of Psychiatry, and many other departments. It is my hope to represent, showcase, and call upon the diversity of our U of R psychologists during the time that I lead APA.”
McAdams is a member of
the class of 2017.
