Liaison in Reverse: The Role of a Psychosomatically-Oriented Internist in a Department of Psychiatry

Abstract

The renewal of interest in the physician identity of the psychiatrist has exposed widespread deficits in skills such as physical examination. A program designed to provide medical consultation and teaching in a 107 bed psychiatric inpatient unit of a university medical center is described. The contributions of a psychosomatically-oriented internist to the development of this program of reverse liaison are considered. Bidirectional liaison units may prove to be a resource for psychiatry departments in the remedicalization process.