THE ROLE OF PSYCHIATRISTS IN COMMUNITY-MENTAL-HEALTH-CENTERS - A SURVEY OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS

There is little data about the role of psychiatrists within CMHCs. To gain perspective on this issue, job descriptions for medical directors and staff psychiatrists were collected from 214 CMHCs. The data demon strated that most CMHCs want fully trained psychiatrists involved in a variety of activities in addition to prescribing medication. Policy d evelopment was specifically included as part of the medical director's job for 69% of the CMHC's, and 50% mentioned training as part of the staff psychiatrist's job, Although job descriptions may not accurately reflect the actual roles of the psychiatrist in all cases, these data suggest that CMHCs support a multifaceted role for their psychiatrist s.