Mission and Editorial Policy

FOCUS is the best system for recertification, self-assessment, performance in practice, and lifelong learning in psychiatry. In one package FOCUS provides a comprehensive review of current clinical practice based on the content outlined by the ABPN recertification exam. Each issue offers Clinical Reviews, a Patient Management Exercise, Seminal Articles, and a CME quiz. Twenty AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ are available per year for the issue quizzes, and an additional 20 hours can be earned through completion of the end-of-year Self-Assessment Exam. FOCUS publishes Performance in Practice modules for MOC Part 4 that are approved by ABPN for the Performance in Practice (PIP) chart review requirement of MOC. These modules provide an opportunity to earn 20 additional credits for completion of 3 stages of the published PIP module. All current and back issues are available online. You can earn CME credits by taking the exams from the current issue, and the nonexpired exams from past issues published during your subscription period.

The FOCUS Self-Assessment Exam is an annual 100-question, multiple-choice supplement written by practicing psychiatrists and academic experts that allows you to earn 20 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ and the opportunity to anonymously compare your knowledge to that of your peers either online or on paper. Each question is similar to those used in board-type exams. The FOCUS Self-Assessment Exam is listed by the ABPN as an approved self-assessment activity that fulfills the requirement of psychiatrists applying for and taking the recertification examination.

Performance in Practice Modules available to current subscribers are

• Physician Assessment Module for the Screening of Adults with Substance Use Disorder (Winter 2011)
• Physician Assessment Module for the Assessment and Treatment of Adults with Substance Use Disorder (Winter 2011)
• Clinical Module for Comprehensive Assessment for Suicide and Suicide-Related Behaviors (Spring 2011)
• Clinical Module for Assessment and Treatment of Schizophrenia (Spring 2012).

• A comprehensive review article summarizing current research
• A clinical synthesis article written by a leading expert in the field
• A patient management exercise and ask-the-expert column
• Recent influential works selected by experts in the field

• Volume VIII (2010): Psychotherapy; Personality and Temperament; Psychiatric Genetics and Genomics; Psychopharmacology: Treatment Resistant Disorders
• Volume IX (2011): Addiction; Professionalism and Quality Measures in Psychiatry; Anxiety Disorders; Bipolar Disorder
• Volume X (2012): Women’s Mental Health; Schizophrenia; Child and Adolescent; Depression and Dysthymia
• Volume XI (2013): Geriatric Psychiatry and Successful Aging; Personality Disorders; Posttraumatic Stress and TBI; Psychosomatic Medicine and Integrated Care

Accreditation and Review
The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology has reviewed FOCUS: The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry and the FOCUS Self-Assessment Examination and has approved this program as part of a comprehensive lifelong learning and self-assessment program, which is mandated by the ABMS as a necessary component of maintenance of certification. The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology has reviewed the American Psychiatric Association Performance in Practice Modules* and has approved each of these modules for ABPN MOC Part 4 (clinical Module) requirements.

The FOCUS Self-Assessment Program is also accredited for up to 20 hours of continuing professional development per year under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Certification program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American Psychiatric Association designates this journal based-CME activity (FOCUS and the FOCUS Self-Assessment) for a maximum of 40 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. The American Psychiatric Association designates these PIP CME Activities (each Performance in Practice Clinical Module) for a maximum of 20 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Editors
Deborah J. Hales, M.D., Arlington, Virginia
Mark Hyman Rapaport, M.D., Atlanta, Georgia

Patient Management Exercise
Ian A. Cook, M.D., Associate Editor, Los Angeles, California

Ethics Commentary
Laura W. Roberts, M.D., Associate Editor, Palo Alto, California

Communications Commentary
Dorothy Stubbe, M.D., Associate Editor, Hamden, Connecticut
eFocus Editors
Carlyle C. Chan M.D., Milwaukee, Wisconsin
David Fogelson, M.D., Santa Monica, California