CONSULTATION-LIAISON PSYCHIATRY AS A SUBSPECIALTY - A CANADIAN SURVEY

In Canada, in recent years, there has been increased interest in the i ssue of subspecialization in psychiatry. One hundred and forty-four me mbers of the Section on Psychosomatic Medicine of the Canadian Psychia tric Association responded to a survey about their opinions on teachin g, training, continuing education, and designation of consultation-lia ison (C-L) psychiatry as a subspecialty. Fifty-five percent of respond ents agreed that C-L psychiatry should receive designation as a psychi atric subspecialty, 35% were opposed, and 10% did not give an opinion. The results also indicated that formal teaching in C-L psychiatry has increased, particularly over the past 20 years; that training in C-L psychiatry is believed by many to have been inadequate, regardless of when the training took place; and recent graduates were more likely th an psychiatrists graduating more than 10 years ago to agree that C-L p sychiatry should be designated as a subspecialty. Psychiatrists who de vote more of their time to the care of patients with combined medical and psychiatric illness were also more likely to favor subspecialty de signation. Factors unique to Canada that may influence attitudes towar d psychiatric subspecialization include the number and geographic dist ribution of psychiatrists, their educational background, and governmen tal funding priorities.