A ten-year update of administrative relationships between state hospitals and academic psychiatry departments.

Abstract

Objective: In a follow-up to a survey ten years earlier, the authors investigated current administrative relationships between academic departments of psychiatry and state hospitals.

Methods: A 20-item questionnaire was sent to the chairs of the 110 medical school departments of psychiatry with accredited psychiatric residencies.

Results: Eighty-two departments, or 75 percent, responded. Seventy-one percent of the respondents reported that their department had a relationship with a state hospital; 79 percent of these relationships involved the education of psychiatric residents. Most respondents rated the quality of the relationship favorably (4 or 5 on a 5-point scale). Almost all respondents believed that residents can obtain a high-quality education in a state hospital. More than half of the departments responding to a question about the importance of a state hospital rotation rated it of major importance in their residency program.

Conclusions: Many medical school departments of psychiatry remain closely involved with state hospitals and recognize the hospital as an important part of residents' education. Administrators have gained much experience about how to develop and implement mutually beneficial relationships.