STRIKING DEVELOPMENTS, particularly in biological psychiatry and in public psychiatry, have had dramatic impact on clinical practice and on the credibility and acceptance of psychiatry by the ultimate consumers, our patients.

Continued progress in any field of medicine has always required two major ingredients: a cadre of medical scientists with major commitments to investigative work, and clinicians able to appraise new developments and apply them to the demands of practice. It is imperative that psychiatrists remain curious about the clinical phenomena they encounter and be receptive to observations which might lead to new scientific advances.

Over the years, approximately 20 percent of our graduates have chosen academic careers and several have achieved national prominence. In the past several years, the Department of Psychiatry has strengthened its emphasis on research training and the critical evaluation of research and clinical literature both for future academically inclined trainees and for those who are planning private practice or public service careers.

Involvement in a research project of some type is strongly encouraged, but not required. It has been our experience that certain residents show special interest and aptitude for research activities. For these residents, we make special efforts to encourage them to engage in research in collaboration with a specific faculty member whose research area might be appropriate or who can provide them with the necessary support and guidance. Residents are not used, however, to further the research efforts of faculty in the department. Rather, they are provided the assistance and supervision they need to design a feasible research project and to complete and summarize it in a form suitable for presentation or publication.

In the past few years, many residents have presented their papers at regional and national conferences, and several have published articles in the psychiatric literature.

Resident Teaching

Resident Teaching RESIDENTS ARE INVOLVED in teaching at several levels in the residency training program. On inpatient rotations at OHSU and the VA, residents usually have one or two medical students assigned to their team and they gain direct experience in teaching and supervising them. There are additional opportunities for residents to gain experience as educators and consultants on the emergency room, consultation/liaison, behavioral medicine, alcohol and drug, and community psychiatry rotations. Each of these consultation and education experiences are closely supervised by faculty where issues of imparting knowledge to other medical and non-medical health professionals are discussed. There is ample opportunity on the consultation/liaison experience and in community psychiatry to explore the roles of consultant and educator to nurses, social workers, psychologists and paraprofessionals. Residents are encouraged to prepare and present grand rounds, case conferences and seminars on a regular basis.

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