The Mental Health Technician: Maryland's Design for a New Health Career
ROBERT M. VIDAVER M.D.1
1 Director of psychiatric education, State of Maryland Department of Mental Hygiene, 301 W. Preston St., Baltimore, Md. 21201, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, and instructor in psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore
Alternative pathways to traditional graduate education and the national emergence of community college curricula leading to associate of arts degrees in a variety of human service fields are discussed in relation to Maryland's mental health technician program. Emphasizing the need, initially, for "generalist" skills, the author proposes an open-ended system for the technicians' continued educational and professional growth through subspecialty in-service courses, opportunities for advanced collegiate education, and administrative channels for lateral and vertical mobility.
