USING SUCCESSFUL MODELS OF CARE TO GUIDE THE TEACHING OF PSYCHIATRY IN PRIMARY-CARE

The focus of efforts to improve primary care Physicians' recognition a nd treatment of psychiatric conditions has been on enhancing the conte nt of their education, with little attention paid to the choice of mod els through which the content is delivered. The authors believe that e xisting models of primary care delivery are analogous to Strain's six basic models of teaching psychiatry to primary care physicians. Each m odel is especially suited to a particular segment of the primary care physician's education;for example, the consultation model has relevanc e for teaching about better management of identified patients and the bridge model for enhancing recognition of unrecognized disorders. All six models have a place in both education and practice.