Georgetown University School of Medicine.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C B Robinowitz.
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OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the administrative relationships in 1990 between medical school departments of psychiatry and community mental health centers (CMHCs). METHOD: A 20-item questionnaire was sent to the chairpersons of the 110 medical school departments of psychiatry with accredited psychiatric residencies. RESULTS: Sixty-nine percent of the chairpersons responded to the questionnaire. Sixty-eight percent of the responding chairpersons reported that their departments had relationships with CMHCs, and 90% of these relationships involved the education of psychiatric residents. Most responding chairpersons described the quality of their existing CMHC relationships as good to excellent. In the most common type of relationship reported the CMHC was used as a setting for resident education. The vast majority of responding chairpersons stated that quality resident education is possible in a CMHC, and about two-thirds of the responding chairpersons with CMHC relationships involving residency education rated the CMHC rotation as of major importance to their residency programs. CONCLUSIONS: CMHCs continue to be an important and valued component of the educational experience for many psychiatric residents, and many departments of psychiatry have recognized the advantages and benefits of CMHCs for residency training. There are now considerable data on how a relationship between a medical school department and a CMHC should be structured to achieve maximum benefit for both the department and the CMHC.
OBJECTIVE: In a follow-up to a survey ten years earlier, the authors investigated current administrative relationships between academic departments of psychiatry and state hospitals. METHODS: A 20-item questionnaire was sent to the chairs of the 110 medical school departments of psychiatry with accredited psychiatric residencies. RESULTS: Eighty-two departments, or 75 percent, responded. Seventy-one percent of the respondents reported that their department had a relationship with a state hospital; 79 percent of these relationships involved the education of psychiatric residents. Most respondents rated the quality of the relationship favorably (4 or 5 on a 5-point scale). Almost all respondents believed that residents can obtain a high-quality education in a state hospital. More than half of the departments responding to a question about the importance of a state hospital rotation rated it of major importance in their residency program. CONCLUSIONS: Many medical school departments of psychiatry remain closely involved with state hospitals and recognize the hospital as an important part of residents' education. Administrators have gained much experience about how to develop and implement mutually beneficial relationships.
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OBJECTIVE: The authors' goal was to examine the changing demographic trends in psychiatry manpower. These changes have important implications for the practice of the profession in the future. METHOD: Each year, the APA Office of Membership, in collaboration with the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training, conducts a census of all residents in psychiatry. A survey instrument is sent to the director of residency training in each U.S. program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Using data from this survey and from the American Medical Association, the authors conducted a study of the changes in the number of psychiatric residents over the last decade, particularly the increases in the number and percentage of women in medicine and psychiatry. RESULTS: They found that the number of psychiatric residents has grown from 4,674 in academic year 1978-1979 to 5,829 in 1987-1988, an increase of 25%. The percentage of women has increased from 32% of all psychiatric residents in 1978-1979 to 41% in 1987-1988. The largest proportions of female physicians and psychiatrists were found in the age groups younger than 35. CONCLUSIONS: Previously documented gender differences that affect practice patterns and career opportunities may very well change as a function of the increasing representation of women in the profession of psychiatry, and these changes need to be taken into account in planning for future patient care and research needs.
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The authors conducted a survey of psychiatric education in alcoholism and drug abuse in the United States. Ninety-seven percent of 106 undergraduate training programs and 91% of 169 residency programs offered curriculum units in this field. Most of these programs also provided supervised clinical care. Areas of reported faculty dissatisfaction included problems with attitude and interest of psychiatric faculty and with the amount of curriculum time allotted. The authors conclude that although the amount of curriculum time devoted to training in alcoholism and drug abuse is growing, further investment in developing faculty and fellowships is warranted to increase the quality of teaching commitment.
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There are no minimum standards for the clinical training of psychiatrists with regard to the type and number of patients evaluated or treated. Interest in establishing such standards derives from a need for greater accountability, a high fail rate on the clinical portion of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology examinations, and an increasing demand for precise documentation of competence in specific areas by hospital privileging committees. Although considerable disagreement exists as to what the overall requirements should be, some minimum requirements can be agreed on. The authors discuss concerns about minimal standards and make suggestions for further development of standards.
The authors present recommendations for educating medical students and psychiatric residents in geropsychiatry. They are primarily concerned with the objectives and methods rather than the content of training. Proposals are structured in terms of training objectives and educational settings in which such training takes place. The proposals are intended to be specific enough to be truly useful and at the same time sufficiently generalizable to adapt to geropsychiatric training in a variety of institutions. Priority is given to integrating knowledge of normal and abnormal aging with the clinical skills and empathy necessary to approach patients with competence and understanding.
Data from a national survey were used to explore whether the patients of male and female psychiatrists differed substantially in demographic or clinical characteristics and whether there were any differences in psychiatrists' treatment of same-gender versus opposite-gender patients. Women constituted about two-thirds of the female but only one-half of the male psychiatrists' patient loads. Female psychiatrists tended to see all of their patients more frequently, but few other differences were found. Better educated patients of both genders tended to have same-gender therapists; patients experiencing marital disruption tended to be seen by therapists of the opposite gender. Implications of these differences for training and manpower development are discussed.
The progress of women in academic psychiatry depends in part on the social and institutionalized administrative patterns expressed through faculty attitudes, hiring practices, and other conditions of the field as they are currently structured. As the numbers of women increase, their specialness will decrease, and accommodations to particular needs and variations may become accepted as part of the system. This success in modifying the system will be self-perpetuating, proportional, and appropriate, leading to more participation of women in academic psychiatry.
The authors describe the development and implementation of the third edition of the Psychiatric Knowledge and Skills Self-Assessment Program (PKSAP-III). An assessment of the performance of 4,137 participants in PKSAP-III according to their primary professional activity, time spent in continuing medical education (CME), Board certification, and geographical area reveal that participation in CME had a positive effect on test performance. The authors conclude that the PKSAP is most valuable as a diagnostic tool for the individual practitioner and as a resources tool to assist in structuring a curriculum for small group discussions.
Psychiatrists who completed residency between 1967 and 1978 completed questionnaires about their experiences with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). Although the 1,160 respondents were basically positive about the ABPN, performance on the Board examinations was strongly related to their degree of satisfaction with the examination process. The opinions of psychiatrists who had not sought certification mirrored those of respondents who had failed the exams. The oral examination was uniformly seen as stressful, but respondents also wanted the Board to provide more clear criteria for the judgment of competence as well as detailed feedback on performance. Women and foreign medical graduates were less apt to be certified than male psychiatrists who had graduated from United States medical schools, and psychiatrists engaged in research, education, and/or administration tended to be more successful at passing the Board examination than were clinicians.
The authors review the guidelines of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) for recertification and the approaches of various medical specialty boards, including internal medicine, pathology, and family practice, toward implementing periodic recertification. At a time when psychiatry has an increasingly close alliance with the other medical specialties, it is important that this issue receive serious consideration. Close collaboration between APA and the ABPN on the recertification process assures that any procedures developed will be in keeping with psychiatrists' wishes and needs, while meeting the responsibility for public accountability.
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