TRAINING ISSUES IN EMERGENCY PSYCHIATRY

The psychiatric emergency service (PES) is an excellent learning environment that offers trainees a multitude of educational opportunities. PES personnel need to develop training programs to ensure that psychiatry residents obtain knowledge and skills in emergency evaluation, crisis management, and triage of patients, as required by accreditation bodies. Curriculum guidelines can best be achieved through a rotation that offers an orientation, didactic presentations, clinical supervision, and graded responsibilities. Improved training opportunities, senior electives, and fellowships will promote emergency psychiatry as a career choice.