Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:73-76
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
The academic dilemma of the inpatient unit director
E Leibenluft, P Summergrad and A Tasman
Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC 20007.
Inpatient units in academic departments are typically directed by junior
faculty members, who quickly abandon these positions for less demanding,
more rewarding jobs. These frequent turnovers in the directorship
compromise the clinical, research, and educational functions of the
inpatient unit. The authors believe that the average inpatient director's
truncated term can be traced to two causes: an exacerbation of the junior
faculty member's developmental crisis by factors intrinsic to the inpatient
unit and a disparity between the expectations for academic productivity and
the opportunities for scholarly activity. These conflicts are elaborated
and pragmatic ways of relieving this situation are suggested.
