Encouraging Psychiatrists to Work With Chronic Patients: Opportunities and Limitations of Residency Education
Abstract
In recent years, psychiatrists in both the public and private sectors have been insufficiently involved in the treatment of chronic psycbiatric illness. Simultaneously, deinstitutionalization has made the treatment of chronic patients more complex. In this paper the authors discuss the use of medical education—specifically the psychiatric residency—to increase the number of psychiatrists involved in the treatment of chronic patients and to improve the quality of treatment. Optimally residency programs should provide intense, long-term contact with chronic patients, supervised by role models committed to the treatment of such patients. Programs should encourage appropriate attitudes, including realistic treatment expectations and understanding of the issues of patient passivity and dependence; convey specialized knowledge related to housing, ethnicity, occupational, social, and legal matters; and train residents in treatment skills tailored to patient needs, including the ability to petform functional diagnostic assessments and to collaborate with other mental health professionals.
Access content
To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access.- Personal login
- Institutional Login
- Sign in via OpenAthens
- Register for access
-
Please login/register if you wish to pair your device and check access availability.
Not a subscriber?
PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.
Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).
