IPA Past President's Experience - Dr Chris Stout

Hey, everybody. Chris Stout. Good to be with you today. I first got involved with IPA through the Legislative Committee and to be honest, I was very scared about doing that. It was kind of one of those I'm not worthy kinds of moments. I had the opportunity to work with Gene Rossi and Terry Kohler and the Pribbles, and I have to say I was very impressed with them. They were fantastic mentors and really kind of guided me into my time with IPA through the Legislative Committee and things just kind of took off from there and never looked back. Vis a vis involvement with IPA in the very early days, I was involved with Marlon Hoover and Gary Kamen and Pat Pimentel of Prescriptive Authority. We did a paper, I think, gosh, 1997, something like that, that was in professional psychology, based upon a study we had done about psychologists opinions about Prescriptive Authority. And look at where we are today with everybody's work on that. Those were heady times. We were working towards parity. We were kind of on the heels of some really great momentum that IPA leadership had done vis a vis third party reimbursement, insurance reimbursement, the Blues case with Illinois Blue Cross Blue Shield, and parity with Psychology for Psychiatry for CPT codes and psychotherapy. I was also very active with a parody of psychologists with admitting privileges and being able to write orders in hospital settings as well. We also had, around that era, a shift from having a registration act to the licensing act that we all currently enjoy today. And I think we can all just be very proud of the role that IPA and leadership and members have had in terms of advocacy for those we work with as well as the profession. It's kind of fun to look back and look forward with IPA's leadership and membership in terms of what's been done. And I kind of feel like we should maybe take a victory lap. I think also that our association's wins can help us to have the fortitude that we need in order to take on our next challenges. Some of those challenges are persistent, like battling stigma and working for better diversity inclusion. Some are new or evolving, like technology and telehealth and psychopharm expansion. As an association, I think it's also important for us to consider how we stay relevant, how we can grow our membership and maintain IPA's viability. So while there's much to be done, I think we have evidence that together we can accomplish great things. Our diversity as an association is one of our superpowers, the uniting thread amongst us all here today, regardless of our differences and uniqueness is psychology. I'm proud to be a part of IPA and proud to call you all friends and colleagues. Thanks.