MSDC Member Announcements

Eliot Sorel, MD

The Medical Society of DC’s Past President Eliot Sorel, MD, D.L.F.A.P.A., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences and of Global Health, Health Services Management and Leadership in the School of Public Health and Health Services has recently launched his latest book Images of Psychiatry: The Caribbean at the Organization of American States in Washington, DC.   Dr. Sorel also launched his latest DVD "Global Disasters: Psychiatric Medicine and Public Health Challenges" at the annual American Psychiatric Association (APA) meeting in Toronto, Canada.  At the same APA meeting, he chaired the workshop "European Psychiatry; Health and Mental Health Policy after the Helsinki Summit."  Dr. Sorel is working as the Senior Advisor to the "Central and East European Health Care Modernization Summit" meeting, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.  If you would like more information on Dr. Sorel’s book or DVD, contact Jane Moncrief at 202-558-3014 or moncrief@msdc.org.

Tee L. Guidotti, MD

MSDC member Tee L. Guidotti, MD, took office as President of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) in May at the American Occupational Health Conference in Los Angeles, California. ACOEM is the principal organization for physicians in the practice of occupational medicine and has a membership of 6,000 physicians and is headquartered in Chicago. ACOEM has 32 state- and regional-level component societies, the local one being the Metropolitan Washington College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. In his acceptance speech, Dr. Guidotti said that it was an exciting time for ACOEM and the field of occupational medicine because the practice has come to be recognized by society as a whole, the field has led nationally in the area of practice guidelines, and has partnered on preparing physicians for emergency preparedness. The priorities for the coming year will remain excellence in healthcare, health and productivity, and worker protection, which will take the College well beyond traditional issues in occupational health and safety and into challenging areas including evidence-based medicine, measures of economic impact, and homeland security.

Erminia Scarcella, MD

Long-time MSDC member and Chair of the DC Chapter of the Washington Psychiatric Society, Dr. Erminia Scarcella has launched an initiative to serve the Districts high population of foreign nationals in the aftermath of a natural or manmade disaster.  Dr. Scarcella is working with other psychiatrists in the DC area to provide a mental outreach program to assist the diplomatic community.

“Our goal is to link a WPS member with the embassy of his/her native country,” said Dr. Scarcella.  “As we make connections with the embassies, we convey to them the need for and the value of a mental health component in addressing medical emergencies generated by a disaster.  We can serve an educational need on the kinds of mental health problems that may follow a disaster in the immediate aftermath and the years that follow.”

At present, 12 embassies have agreed to participate in the program.  Psychiatrists who are interested in participating in the Embassy Project may contact Dr. Erminia Scarcella at 202-244-5462 or by e-mail at ermsca@bellatlantic.net.