The American Society of Ketamine Physicians (ASKP) was formed in 2016 after the original founders met at the KRIYA conference and chose to form a professional society. Since that time, ASKP has hosted two annual meetings bringing together master clinicians, researchers, and thought leaders to share information and insights to advance the quality of therapeutic ketamine use. Since the beginning of ASKP, the ketamine field has experienced a significant amount of growth and innovation. As the use of therapeutic ketamine grows and matures, the organization also evolves. ASKP recognizes the great need for its leadership in the development of practice standards and fostering vigorous discussion around the use of therapeutic ketamine.
Today, we are excited to announce the rebirth of ASKP, depicted by our new logo raising ASKP to the power of 3. The ASKP name has changed from the American Society of Ketamine Physicians to the American Society of Ketamine Physicians, Psychotherapists & Practitioners. The next generation of this society reflects full inclusion of multiple disciplines who are called to lead and contribute: physicians, psychologists, other psychotherapists, advanced practice providers, pharmacists, patients, and others. The leadership role of mental health professionals, psychiatrists, and psychotherapists, in the management of depression, anxiety, suicidality, and substance use disorders is also recognized. A premise of this organization is that ketamine offers an opportunity that reaches beyond any one specialty and calls for close collaboration between professionals who understand and prescribe ketamine and professionals who understand mental health and pain.
At our recent membership meeting, our board presented this new vision and updated bylaws. The new bylaws were recently ratified by the membership and adopted by the society. This new vision allows us to be more inclusive of membership and to make changes to advance the organization. We will be adding advisory panels to the board as well as expanding the board. The board will continue to have a majority of physicians, derived from several specialties including psychiatry, anesthesia, and emergency medicine. In addition, the board will have at least one psychotherapist, at least one advanced practice provider and one non-voting patient advocate. We also adopted a new mission and vision statement which can be viewed on our website.
Lastly, our board consists of the same members, but we have selected new officers to carry forth our new vision. Dr. Sandhya Prashad, a psychiatrist, is our new president, Dr. Megan Oxley, an emergency medicine physician, is our vice president. Our new secretary is Dr. Cindy Van Praag, an anesthesiologist and Dr. Robert Grant, a physician specialized in internal medicine and pulmonary medicine, is our new treasurer. These new officers bring a variety of expertise to the organization to pave the way in carrying out our new mission and vision.
For anyone interested in the therapeutic use of ketamine, we welcome you to join ASKP3. Benefits of ASKP3 membership include voting for leadership, the opportunity to join advisory panels, as well as run for a seat on the board of directors and officer positions, a discount on conference registration, access to member-only educational webinars, and a members-only forum for discussion and queries.
Original Article: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-american-society-of-ketamine-physicians-askp-announces-name-change-301070257.html
Link to ASKP: https://askp.org/
