Emergency Psychiatry: A Critical Educational Omission

  1. Michael P. Weissberg, MD
  1. University of Colorado School of Medicine
    Denver, CO 80262

    Excerpt

    Murphy, in his classic study, concluded that no "person has contact with [so many] potentially suicidal individuals as does the physician" (1, 2). Murphy believed that the principal site for suicide prevention was the physician's office (1). In Murphy's study, internists were the specialists most commonly consulted by those who killed themselves (1, 2).

    It is now generally accepted that more persons with the full range of psychiatric emergencies are seen by non-psychiatrists than by psychiatrists (1-4). Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop emphasized that all physicians have the duty to care for these patients (5). When physicians fail in

    This 100-word excerpt has been provided in the absence of an abstract.

    Article and Author Information

    • Requests for Reprints: Michael P. Weissberg, MD, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Box C-261, 4200 East Ninth Avenue, Denver, CO 80262.

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    1. Ann Intern Med February 1, 1991 vol. 114 no. 3 246-247
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