A reexamination of the psychiatric resident's experience in the general hospital

Abstract

The authors discuss three phases of psychiatric residency training: the beginning psychiatry training syndrome, the professional and psychologic changes associated with the second year, and the senior resident year, characterized by transition to practice issues. Since most residency training experiences occur in general hospital settings, it is imperative that general hospital psychiatrists be aware of the professional and emotional changes that residents experience as they move from inpatient to outpatient settings and assume more administrative responsibilities in departments of psychiatry. The authors recommend preventive steps that residency training directors in general hospitals might take to reduce residents' adverse emotional responses to stresses associated with each training period in the general hospital.