PaPS Central Chapter Insights
by Luke Piper, MD, FAPA
Dr. Piper completed his medical education at the Penn State College of Medicine in 2017, and remained there for his adult psychiatry residency, finishing in 2021. He has since worked for UPMC Central PA in roles that span hospital consultation, collaborative care, and psychiatric education, with a particular focus on teaching psychiatric principles to non-psychiatrists. He became a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association at the start of 2025. His time with PaPS began in 2020 as an RFM Representative and has since seen him serve as an ECP Representative, Secretary/Treasurer for the Central Chapter, and most recently, Central Chapter President from 2025-2026. When not treating patients, he is kept busy by his wife, two young daughters, and three cats.
I appreciate the opportunity to feature the PaPS Central Chapter and to offer my insights as a 9-year member of the Central Chapter (dating back to my early days as a resident), as well as my experience serving as President for the Chapter over much of the last year.
For those who are not aware, the Central Chapter covers a substantial territory that spans 16 counties in the east-central region of Pennsylvania. I confess, until I came into the Central Chapter leadership, I hadn’t realized just how far-reaching our territory is:
I think the designation of “Central” chapter is quite appropriate, as one would find that we share borders with all other PaPS chapters: Pittsburgh to the west, Western to the northwest, Northeast to the…well, northeast, Lehigh to the east, and Philadelphia connects on our southeastern corner off Lancaster County. Especially during a time when we are endeavoring to revive the small chapter collective, Central’s role as a geographic crossroads among the PaPS chapters is a unique and valuable trait, in my view.
One can see from the map that the Central Chapter member counties are diverse in location and characteristics. I essentially think of our territory as being roughly centered on the State capital of Harrisburg, a feature that we do not underestimate as we aim to mobilize more of our member psychiatrists into political advocacy for our profession. Many of our members have met directly with State lawmakers in this respect. Outside of our Chapter’s importance for State policy, one finds that our geography is dotted by a variety of state forests and parks, towns and cities featuring diverse architecture and histories, as well as multifaceted cultural backgrounds. I would be remiss not to highlight, for example, the vibrant Amish population in our region, especially in (though certainly not limited to) the region in and around Lancaster. Meanwhile, the mighty Susquehanna River bisects our Chapter from north to south, a major part of its long journey toward the Chesapeake Bay.
Central Chapter is proud to house two psychiatric residency programs within its borders. For many decades, Penn State Health’s program at the Hershey Medical Center has trained a slew of outstanding psychiatrists, many of whom (me included) have gone on to serve in PaPS leadership roles. The program is currently under the direction of Dr. Ahmad Hameed, former PaPS President. The Chapter recently welcomed Wellspan’s new residency program based out of York, PA, under the direction of the Central Chapter Education Chair Dr. Arya Soman. That program has now had two successful match cycles, and its inaugural class is about to complete its first year. Our general psychiatric membership comes from all corners of the Chapter, including its many health systems (Penn State Health, UPMC Central PA, Lancaster General/Penn Medicine, Geisinger, to name a few) as well as numerous private practitioners. Our Chapter membership has contributed multiple statewide leaders to PaPS, including multiple prior PaPS Presidents and several current leaders on PaPS committees.
Emerging from the pandemic, the Central Chapter has been eager to reengage with our annual networking, socializing, and research activities. At a minimum, each year features an event dedicated to resident research, and a holiday social event and dinner to which the general membership is invited. We have enjoyed collaborating with the Lehigh chapter for the resident research night for several years now and hope this can be a springboard toward broader small chapter collective events. This past year, we explored, and successfully implemented, a sponsorship plan with Johnson and Johnson that allowed us to significantly expand the scope and quality of our resident research night venue, without breaking the Chapter budget. Our goals in years ahead involve more events tailored to Chapter membership in particular career stages (for example, early career networking), and having a proof-of-concept that we can work with industry sponsors (in a way that is responsible and ethical) is an exciting step toward that vision.
In truth, I felt great trepidation as I assumed the mantle of leadership of this Chapter. Its diverse membership in our society, diverse healthcare systems, and diverse geography (of which all corners contribute to our membership) deserves sound leadership, a clear vision for the future, and a – pardon the pun – central role in PaPS’s future visions for the small chapter collective, and really, the collective efforts of all our chapters. It’s been a joy living within the boundaries of the Chapter since 2013 (when I began medical school) and a great honor of my life to help steward the Chapter through the 2025-2026 academic year.
I hope this offers some helpful insights into the Central Chapter of PaPS.
Sincerely,
Luke Piper, MD, FAPA
Central Chapter President