PSYCHIATRY AND BIOETHICS - AN EXPLORATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP

Psychiatrists have been extensively involved in ethics in the general hospital over the past two decades and have functioned in that area in a variety of roles. The basis for psychiatry's strong interest in bio ethics can be understood as related to three factors. familiarity with many of the clinical problems that lend to bioethics consultation, th e frequent importance of psychiatric aspects of ethics, and the observ ation that psychiatrists already possess many of the clinical skills n ecessary for doing ethics work. The particular value of training psych iatrists to serve as ethics consultants, in addition to the importance of their continuing role on hospital ethics committees, is discussed.