Commencement
by Mark Matta, MD, DFAPA
PAPS President
Presently, Dr. Mark Matta is the CEO and Medical Director of Psych Med Associates, P.C. in New Castle, PA. He is also the medical director of People in Need and Community Alternatives, two community mental health clinics in New Castle. Chatham University has awarded Dr. Matta as the Psychiatric Preceptor of the Year in 2012 and Clinical Preceptor of the Year in 2013. He has also been awarded Best of the Best Psychiatrist by the New Castle News from 2009-2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, and in 2025 was “Elected as Distinguished Fellow” with the American Psychiatric Association in 2020 in recognition of his significant contributions to the field of psychiatry.
He is the President of the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society and previously served as the president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of PaPS from 2021-2022 and presently sits on the Lawrence County Mental Health Advisory Board. Dr. Matta was also a previous recipient of the Pennsylvania Medical Society’s 40 under 40 award, recognizing physicians who have provided significant service to their field.
Graduation ceremonies are called commencement because the event marks the beginning of a new chapter rather than just the end of an academic journey.
As I begin, I start to think…
When I think about the future of psychiatry in Pennsylvania, I don’t begin by thinking about regulations, committees, or legislation. I think about patients.
I think about the patient who waits months for an appointment. The family struggling to navigate a fragmented system. The psychiatrist who entered this profession to heal and connect with people but finds more and more time consumed by paperwork, administrative hurdles, and barriers that seem disconnected from patient care.
The reality is that we do not suffer from a shortage of ideas in psychiatry. We suffer from a shortage of systems that allow good ideas to flourish.
As I begin my term as President of the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society, I believe our mission is clear: identify what is working, support it, and remove the obstacles standing in its way.
Across Pennsylvania, psychiatrists are developing innovative approaches to care delivery, embracing new technologies, expanding access through telepsychiatry, integrating collaborative care, and exploring the emerging role of artificial intelligence. Innovation should not be viewed as a threat to our profession. When thoughtfully implemented, it can strengthen the physician-patient relationship, improve efficiency, and help us reach patients who might otherwise go untreated.
Our role as a Society should be to lead these conversations—not react to them.
That is why one of my priorities this year will be to ensure that the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society has a meaningful voice in ongoing discussions with state government, regulators, payers, and other stakeholders. Whether addressing workforce shortages, scope-of-practice issues, regulatory oversight, reimbursement challenges, or the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence, we must advocate for policies grounded in evidence, practicality, and patient benefit.
Good policy should make it easier to care for patients, not harder.
This October, the Keystone Psychiatric Forum will provide an opportunity for psychiatrists from every corner of the Commonwealth to come together and focus on the future of our profession. More than a conference, I hope it becomes a forum for sharing ideas, challenging assumptions, and building solutions that can be translated into real-world patient care.
Just as importantly, I want us to look inward as an organization. Professional societies should not feel complicated. They should be welcoming, useful, and responsive to the needs of their members. Whether you are a resident, an early-career psychiatrist, a community practitioner, or a seasoned leader, your expertise and perspective matter.
The year ahead presents challenges, but it also presents tremendous opportunity. My hope is that we approach it with curiosity rather than fear, innovation rather than inertia, and optimism rather than cynicism.
If we remain focused on our patients, support the physicians who care for them, and have the courage to embrace what works, the future of psychiatry in Pennsylvania will be bright indeed.
The Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society is YOURS. Don’t just stare at it USE IT!
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” — Henry Ford.