Kathleen C. Dougherty, MD, DLFAPA
I have been a member of the Ethics Committee since 2005 and the Chair
since 2020, previously co-chairing for a number of years with Dr. Larry
Altaker.
The Ethics Committee addresses any complaints filed concerning the
behavior of a member of PaPS. There are guidelines regarding who can
raise these concerns: they typically come from a patient but can be from
a colleague or potentially even from a member of the public calling our
attention to a publicized issue such as a Board of Medicine action in PA
or another state.
We currently have 17 committee members. The committee is required to
include at least three past presidents of PaPS to ensure there is a
backbone of experience. A broad geographic base of members is important,
to allow us to avoid being in a position of evaluating colleagues with
whom we might directly work, or addressing complaints from patients we
might know. We try to accomplish this by initially selecting evaluators
who live/work at some distance from where the complaint occurs. We
actually could benefit from more members, as there are various steps to
the evaluation process and they may require different members for each,
to allow for independent judgment; in a complex case, that can add up to
a lot of people. We also don’t want to overload our members. Thankfully,
in my time as Chair we have not had many complaints.
I have been impressed over the years by how thoughtful our members
have been in their deliberations; they are uniformly respectful of both
party’s concerns while maintaining a focus on what needs to be done to
address the issues in a fair and impartial manner. I want to take the
opportunity to thank our participants who have been willing to step up
to help maintain the standards of our profession yet also assist
colleagues who may be unfairly accused.
About Dr. Kathleen Dougherty
Dr. Dougherty completed an accelerated program obtaining her BS
through Penn State University and her MD through Jefferson Medical
College. She went on to complete residency at Case Western Reserve
University and stayed to complete a fellowship in forensic
psychiatry.
Dr. Dougherty currently serves as Vice Chair for Clinical Services,
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health at Penn State Health.
She holds a faculty position as Associate Professor of Psychiatry at
Penn State University College of Medicine.
Dr. Dougherty currently serves as Chair of PaPS Ethics Committee and
Co-chair of PaPS Government Relations Committee. She also serves as
Councilor of the Central Chapter, PaPS and is a past president,
PaPS.
Dr. Dougherty is a Distinguished Life Fellow, APA. She is a prior
recipient of the Presidential Award of PaPS, and the Presidential Award
of the Central Chapter, PaPS.