Kailie Shaw, MD, vice chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at the USF College of Medicine, was recently elected as one of eight psychiatry directors of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). Dr. Shaw will serve in this post for four years, beginning January 2009.

“This is a time of major change in the certification process and I look forward to working with the other psychiatry and neurology directors to set the standards and testing new procedures for certifying psychiatry and neurology diplomats,” Dr. Shaw said

Founded in 1934, the ABPN is an independent, nonprofit organization that certifies doctors practicing psychiatry and neurology, as well as subspecialties. The mission of the ABPN is to serve the public interest by promoting excellence in the practice of psychiatry and neurology through lifelong certification, including competency testing processes. Currently, the ABPN issues certificates in the following 10 areas: psychiatry; neurology; neurology with special qualification in child neurology; addiction psychiatry; child and adolescent psychiatry; clinical neurophysiology; forensic psychiatry; geriatric psychiatry; neurodevelopmental disabilities; pain medicine; psychosomatic medicine; and vascular neurology.

In her role as a psychiatry director, Dr. Shaw will help set policies and procedures for testing, as well as other governance issues for the organization. Historically, she has been a senior examiner for the Part II oral examination. As a member of the Executive Subcommittee on Certification in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from 1998 to 2003, she served on the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) Steering Committee, the CAP written examination committee, the CAP Recertification committee and the CAP Recertification Written Examination Subcommittee. Dr. Shaw has been affiliated with the ABPN for many years, having held her primary certification since 1979 and her subspecialty certification in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry since 1980.

Dr. Shaw joined the USF faculty in 1974 and has been Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry since 1995. She also holds an appointment on the Psychiatry Residency Review Committee of the ACGME. Her appointments to these two organizations are significant for psychiatric care because the ABPN is charged with the certification of competence in newly graduated psychiatrists and the RRC has responsibility for the oversight of the postgraduate educational quality of residency programs through out the United States.

“This is an enormous opportunity for Dr. Shaw, on behalf of our discipline, to give back to the field,” said Francisco Fernandez, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry. “Our collective responsibility to the public is to ensure patients receive the best possible care from board certified psychiatrists and neurologists. At USF Dr. Shaw has been committed to educating, training and equipping physicians who are compassionate about their patients and dedicated to the communities in which they serve. Now she will do the same for all throughout the country.”