Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Welcome to the sixth annual Medical Psychiatry Alliance (MPA) conference, AMPLIFIED: Spreading Education and Innovation.

The MPA has contributed to bridging the gap in the health care system between mental and physical health through launching over 55 initiatives in education, health systems research and clinical care since 2014. These novel programs have addressed the core mandates of the MPA:

• Improve quality of life and increase life expectancy for those with simultaneous mental and physical illnesses, while reducing the burden of illness on families, the healthcare system and society
• Create a new model of clinical care to support patients with co-occurring mental and physical illnesses
• Teach current and future health professionals how to prevent, diagnose, and treat mental and physical illness
• Deepen our understanding of the interaction between body and brain regarding co-occurring mental and physical illnesses

Over the last 5 years, we have had an opportunity to deliver integrated mental and physical health care programs bridging the care gaps for patients and families. We are looking forward to the 2019 MPA Conference and its focus on capacity building, spread of these integrated models, and related training initiatives emerging from the MPA.

We look forward to an inspiring and collaboration building day as we explore the topic of spreading education and innovation from the perspective of all involved, including patients, families, providers and community members. You will have the opportunity to gain insights from MPA work that will nurture collaboration in mental and physical health care through a range of capacity building initiatives.

It is our privilege to welcome an expert and leader in systems-based approaches to health professions education, Dr. Catherine R. Lucey, Vice Dean of Education from the University of California, San Francisco, as this year’s conference plenary speaker.
On behalf of our MPA partners and colleagues, we invite you to enjoy a day of learning, conversations and making connections for future spread of integrated mental and physical health care

Sincerely,
The MPA Executive