At the New York meeting last December, the Committee on University and Medical Education (CUME), under the leadership of Arnold M. Cooper, continued its efforts to foster interest in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic concepts at the residency, medical school, and university levels. In addition to reviewing the reports of its many subcommittees, CUME discussed a variety of proposals concerning the teaching of psychoanalytic principles to undergraduates, ways of improving the teaching skills of psychoanalysts, and changes in the fellowship program.
Now in its second year, the Fellowship Program for psychiatric residents has caught on like wildfire. The fellowships have become extremely competitive, with applications now coming from all over the country. This year's fellows had a very successful time at the Winter Meetings. All ten were able to attend, including one who came with her five-day-old baby. A full schedule included meeting with mentors and with the officers of The American, attending panels and workshops, and presenting clinical material to senior analysts at the seminars for psychiatric residents, psychologists, and social work students. The fellows also attended the first of what will be an annual Fellows' Lunch, an event that will allow current and former fellows to meet, network, and share ideas. A newsletter written and edited by the fellows themselves will help them track one another's careers and stay in touch. For 1993–1994, the subcommittee, chaired by Elise W. Snyder, will select ten fellows from the outstanding pool of applicants.
In addition to funding by The American itself, CUME is seeking outside resources to support this program. To date, SmithKline Beecham has donated $500, and Yale University Press is donating books in honor of each fellow to the libraries of the departments of psychiatry from which they come.
The membership of The American includes over 60 residency training directors, many of whom have served on the executive committee of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT).
Since 1989, this group of members has worked as a subcommittee of CUME to focus on the enhancement of psychodynamic education in psychiatric residencies, as well as on problems of recruitment. The subcommittee, chaired by Harvey Schwartz, has emphasized the importance of departmental grand rounds and other such activities as a forum for demonstrating, to trainees and faculty alike, the vitality of clinical psychoanalytic work. The subcommittee has also urged various proposals for resident level membership in The American. Improving and expanding the teaching of psychoanalytic principles in psychiatric residency curricula has been another priority, and to this end Dr. Schwartz has edited a book for residents entitled Psychodynamic Concepts in General Psychiatry which is currently in press with APPI. Featuring chapters written by members of The American, the volume offers psychiatric residents psychodynamic approaches to the various kinds of patients they see—the emergency room patient, the consultation-liaison patient, the substance abusing patient, and the bereaved patient, to name but a few. At the May meeting, Dr. Schwartz will be succeeded as chair by David Goldberg, director of residency training at the University of Connecticut and secretary of AADPRT.
Focusing on psychoanalytic teaching at an even earlier stage of medical education, this newly formed subcommittee, chaired by Lynn Reiser, seeks to insure a place for psychoanalysis in the medical school curriculum. Not always given their due, the analysts who teach medical students, initiating them into the world of psychoanalysis, are vital not only to the students, but to the future of psychoanalysis. Unfortunately, finding analysts who are both willing and financially able to devote time to this task is often quite difficult. There is a need for analysts to participate in a host of medical school courses and activities, ranging from first-year interviewing to third-year clerkship supervision. The subcommittee is looking at ways in which institutes could provide incentives for such teaching.
Working closely with Arnold Rothstein, chair of The American's Program Committee, subcommittee chair Fredric Busch seeks to promote the presentation of psychoanalytic work at American Psychiatric Association meetings. In consequence of his efforts, two programs of note will be presented at the APA meeting in San Fransisco this month. The first, a panel entitled “What are the Boundaries of Psychoanalytic Work?,” features Stanley Coen, Marvin Margolis, David Hurst, Morris Peltz, and Deena Harris, and deals with psychoanalytic approaches to more severely disturbed patients. The second, a workshop entitled “Psychodynamics-Psychopharmacology: A Working Alliance” will be presented by Harold Wylie and Phillip Gold.
Dr. Deborah Cabaniss is an Instructor in Clinical Psychiatry at the new York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University. She is also a second year candidate at The Columbia University Center for Psychiatric Training and Research.