Psychiatric Manpower and Public Mental Health: Maryland's Experience

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From July of 1976 through December 1981, 67 psychiatrists who graduated primarily from American medical schools and who had completed university residency training programs were recruited into Maryland's state mental health system. As of 1981, 43 of these psychiatrists still worked in inpatient facilities; they represented 33 per cent of all state hospital psychiatrists in Maryland. The Maryland Mental Hygiene Administration and the University of Maryland have used two general strategies to develop psychiatric manpower and improve employment conditions. They established close linkages between academia and the public sector and demonstrated positive, effective leadership by psychiatrists within the state mental health system.