Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by Westerman, P. S. Search for Related Content PubMed Citation Articles by Westerman, P. S. Other Delivery of Care Suicide

What Makes a Successful Consultant in Psychosomatic Medicine?

TO THE EDITOR: Soon there will be an examination to test our specialized knowledge of psychosomatic medicine. However, an examination is not all that is required; I would like to propose 10 traits of a successful consultant.

1. Be approachable: We are invited in by a fellow physician. On his or her behalf, we help patients see the benefit of our services and help them tell their story.

2. Be organized: Consultation work requires many steps and a good knowledge of local resources.

3. Be a good communicator: Additional information is often needed from family, other social support or agencies, and the health care system, and we must communicate recommendations through these systems.

4. Be a systems thinker: Our psychiatric practice is only part of the interconnected systems of patient care, and we must see our recommendations within this framework.

5. Be knowledgeable: We must know how to be efficient and effective in suicide risk assessment, delirium or dementia, depression, substance abuse, and chronic mental illness as it interacts with medical disease. Additional focus may include issues in child and adolescent care, transplant, pain, trauma, ethics, and legal issues, such as mental capacity.

6. Be optimistic: Many times I have felt at a loss about how to help a patient, but when I engage with a listening and empathic ear, my patients often find new hope or direction.

7. Be flexible: Do your best to keep consultation times open; occasional cases may require up to 4 hours in a fairly short period. It is my impression that limitations of time because of other commitments are the greatest point of burnout.

8. Be tolerant of liability risk: Patients may have ongoing needs for care yet never follow up. This can be particularly distressing for high-risk behaviors, such as suicide risk.

9. Love life outside of psychiatry: The patients who need our care most usually have the least resources to modify their lives, and we may be tempted to see the potential for change as futile. Additionally, stays are so short that we often have limited opportunities for intervention. This too can be a formula for burnout, and we need to have other areas of life where we define success.

10. Love psychiatry: Reimbursement for our work, sadly, does not match the level of intensity of our investment of emotion and time. The benefit comes as we engage others in a uniquely human activity—that of caring. At the end of the day, I never question whether what I did mattered. I know that through my interactions with my patient, the two of us have found an area for hope and have worked to move in a new and healthier direction.

Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by Westerman, P. S. Search for Related Content PubMed Citation Articles by Westerman, P. S. Other Delivery of Care Suicide

Get information about faster international access.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2005 Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. All rights reserved.

Home | Search | Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscribe | All APPI Journals | Help | Contact Us