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In studying the professional development of young psychiatrists from a sociopsychological approach, the authors found that the 'quest for omnipotence' is a regularly observed theme with numerous variations. The psychiatric resident is likely to perceive certain teachers, especially psychoanalysts, as possessing special powers, and in his training he tries to obtain the same powers. The quest for omnipotence is less conscious and less rational than the striving for professional competence, a natural part of the residency.
Psychiatric residents fall into two patterns of professional ideology and role definition—the 'analytic' and the 'eclectic'—although the differentiation is less sharp than it was ten or fifteen years ago. The 'analytic' resident has made a relatively exclusive commitment to psychoanalysis and analytic psychotherapy. Initially he searches for omniscience focused particularly upon psychodynamics. Psychoanalytic institute training is imagined as the final key to psychodynamic omniscience and to the liberation of the self. No resident approaches the institute with confidence regardless of how outstanding his record may have been; he is fearful that his secrets will be found out, and he will be considered unworthy.
The distinctive feature of the 'eclectic' group is a substantial commitment to at least one other aspect of psychiatry in addition to the practice of psychotherapy or psychoanalysis; this may be to somatic or social aspects of clinical psychiatry, to administration, or to research. The 'eclectic' resident finds possessors of omniscience outside the institutes as well as among psychoanalysts.
The quest for omnipotence may hinder or help learning. The detrimental effects can be seen when the resident becomes ineffective as his longing to know everything prevents him from learning anything well. The resident may become simply an imitator of the admired teacher, giving up independent thinking. If identification occurs, the resident's anxiet