The authors examine the role of psychiatrists in community mental health
centers and suggest that extensive psychiatric involvement is needed to
ensure proper patient care. Within the context of four basic clinical
models--social, psychological, behavioral, and biomedical-- they describe
the psychiatrist's unique clinical skills in history taking, differential
diagnosis, case formulation, use of psychopharmacologic agents, and
provision of leadership in patient care. Five case reports illustrate
instances in which psychiatric intervention corrected serious problems in
diagnosis and treatment that otherwise would have resulted in inadequate
care or harm to the patient.Abstract Teaser