Today's resident--tomorrow's psychiatrist
Leichner, P.; Harper, D.
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Revue Canadienne de Psychiatrie 28(4): 263-269
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0706-7437 PMID: 6871811 Document Number: 204635
A survey of 201 Psychiatry residents in Canada was conducted to obtain the opinions of today's residents on a number of controversial issues which may reflect their development as tomorrow's psychiatrist. Generally, this group of residents felt that an internship and training in Neurology and Internal Medicine should be a requirement for residents. Research, psychoanalysis and personal therapy were seen as non-essential assets to the training of a psychiatrist. These residents also showed a definite willingness to learn about the treatment of the seriously mentally ill and the chronic patient by making a rotation in a mental hospital a requirement during their training. The majority felt strongly that their professional identity was primarily that of a physician and were most supportive of a biopsychosocial model as basic to both practice and research in Psychiatry. They acknowledged that role diffusion was a problem in Psychiatry. They saw themselves as different from psychologists, social workers and psychiatric nurses in their ability to develop a differential diagnosis, to arrive at a diagnosis, to prescribe chemotherapy, to decide the necessity for admission, to act as therapeutic team leaders and bear the final medicolegal responsibility. Practising psychotherapy was not seen as a differentiating factor.