COM Dean Elected Psychiatry Director of ABPN

(COLLEGE STATION) – Christopher C. Colenda, M.D., M.P.H., dean of the College of Medicine at The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, was recently elected as a psychiatry director for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN), effective January 2006. Dr. Colenda will serve in this post for four years.
“As an academic physician, to be elected by my colleagues to this position is humbling and gratifying,” Dr. Colenda said. “I look forward to working with the other psychiatry and neurology directors to set the standards and testing procedures for certified psychiatry and neurology diplomates.”
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 his role as psychiatry director, Dr. Colenda will serve on the board to help set policies and procedures for testing, as well as other governance issues for the organization. Historically, he has been a senior examiner for the Part II oral examination and also chaired the subspecialty test writing committee for geriatric psychiatry. Dr. Colenda has been affiliated with the ABPN for many years, having received his primary certification for 20 years and his subspecialty certification for 14 years, as part of the first cohort to receive board certification in geriatric psychiatry.
“I feel this is my opportunity to give back to the field that provided so many opportunities for me,” Colenda said. “Our collective responsibility to the public is to ensure patients receive the best possible care from board certified psychiatrists and neurologists.”
Dr. Colenda has served as dean of the A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine since January 2003.