Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:96-98
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
Psychiatric resident dismissal: a national survey of training programs
HB Roback and MK Crowder
Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232.
The authors report on a nationwide survey of psychiatric residency training
directors who responded to a questionnaire designed to elicit information
on the magnitude of the problem of unacceptable performance by residents.
One hundred six program directors reported on 5,591 internship or residency
positions from 1981 to 1985. A total of 184 residents (3.3%) were
prematurely terminated or persuaded to resign; departmental deliberations
were held on an additional 139 residents (2.5%). Reasons for dismissal and
indications during the selection process that a trainee might prove
problematic are discussed. A provocative finding was that 37% of terminated
residents were accepted into other psychiatry training programs.
