The purpose of this application is to request support over a five-year period for an annual NIMH Trainees Mental Health Services Research Conference, for trainees and faculty in NIMH-supported training programs in mental health services research. The specific goals of the conference are: 1. To offer trainees an opportunity to gain experience in presenting their own work for discussion and review. 2. To improve the quality of trainees' research by providing constructive suggestions from fellow trainees and faculty. 3. To foster collaborative working relationships among trainees and faculty across institutions. 4. To offer trainees exposure to multi-disciplinary perspectives on mental health services research issues. 5. To provide guidance and counseling on research career opportunities to current and prospective trainees. 6. To provide a venue for training program directors and NIMH staff to review training program progress, issues, future plans and opportunities. The conference will be held annually in conjunction with a national research meeting of interest to mental health services researchers. In Year 1, the conference will be held with the annual meeting of the Association for Health Services Research; alternative sites will be considered for subsequent years.
