Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:469-475
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
The definition of a psychiatrist: eight years later
DG Langsley and J Yager
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Medical School, Evanston, IL.
In 1980, psychiatric practitioners and educators were surveyed to determine
their concepts of the knowledge and skills that define a specialist in
psychiatry. The authors repeated this survey, expanding the list of skill
and knowledge items and asking respondents to comment on whether particular
skills or knowledge were important to a psychiatric subspecialty. Less
importance was ascribed in the current survey than in the earlier survey to
certain long-term and social psychotherapies, and more importance was
ascribed to descriptive or biological psychiatry; brief or supportive
therapies; psychopharmacological agents; consultation-liaison psychiatry;
evaluation of children, the aged, and alcoholics; and certain desirable
personal characteristics of the psychiatrist.
