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Helping Residents to Develop as ‘Wise’ Doctors

 

Recommended reading list to contribute to the 'wisdom' (as opposed to the technical proficiency or basic knowledge) of psychiatry residents 

 

On becoming a psychiatrist

·         Ofri, D. (2003) Singular Intimacies.  Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego): Great stories about becoming a physician.

·         Shem, S. (2003) Mount Misery

Deirdre Davis (Baylor)

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego)

·         Shem, S. (1978) House of God

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego)

·         Bettleheim, B. (1990) “How I learned about psychoanalysis” (In Freud's Vienna and Other Essays.)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

 

On being a psychiatrist

·         Camus, A. (1948) The Plague. 

Hamid Tavakoli (Naval Medical Center): Existential view of the main character who is a very 'wise' doctor.

·         Rako, S. & Mazer, H. (2003) Semrad: The heart of the therapist.

Jason Caplan (Creighton University)

 

On working as a psychiatrist

·         Maltsberger, J.T. & Buie, D.H. (1974) “Countertransference hatred and the suicidal patient.” Archives of General Psychiatry Vol 30, pp. 625-33

Carlyle Chan (Medical College of Wisconsin): I tell residents that certain papers they read will have increased meaning and relevance as they progress in their careers and gain experience.  Often these papers should be re-read at various times.  One such paper is Maltsberger's Countertransference Hatred and the Suicidal patient

·         Miller, M.C., Jacobs, D.G., Gutheil. (1998) “Talisman or taboo: the controversy of the suicide prevention contract”. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, Vol 6  pp. 78-87

Josh Bess (University of Michigan): Our in patient unit and consult-liaison service is still, despite my best efforts, a place where 'contracts for safety' is frequently heard.  I used this article not only to illustrate that this language is (usually) meaningless, but to encourage trainees to continue to examine and re-examine even the most basic comments/ideas that they encounter in their daily work

·         Goldman, L.S., Wise, T.N., Brody, D.S. (Eds) (2003) Psychiatry for Primary Care Physicians.  AMA Press

Hamid Tavakoli (Naval Medical Center): Teaches us to be practical in how we practice, and how to communicate effectively with other physicians without sounding like we are from another planet.  All of this leading to 'wisdom' hopefully.

·         MacKinnon, R.A., Michels, R. & Buckley, P.J.(2006, 2nd Ed) The Psychiatric Interview (American Psychiatric Press)

Philip Muskin (Columbia)

·         Havens, L. (1989) A Safe Place.

Joan Anzia (Northwestern University): I love Leston Havens' 'A Safe Place'.  It's a series of essays, each with a clinical vignette with reflections on the role of the psychiatrist-physician.  The vignettes are quite personal, and can stimulate residents to engage in thinking about their roles, responsibilities, and the consequences in this very special enterprise that is our work.  If often just assign the one message entitled 'Anatomy of a Suicide".

·         Havens, L. (1983) Participant Observation.

Jonathan Bolton (University of New Mexico): an inside-the-therapist description of the dance of therapy where the therapist listens to and listens for cues, and then chooses amongst possible responses.  He brings Harry Stack Sullivan into focus for working therapists.

·         Stack Sullivan, H. (1954) The Psychiatric Interview. 

Jonathan Bolton (University of New Mexico): the still-relevant and still irreverent classic on how to interview patients.

·         Lee, H. (1960) To Kill a Mockingbird.

Donald Fidler (West Virginia University): I recommend Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' to learn from the lawyer Atticus Finch as he makes difficult decisions which go against the majority of people in his culture and teaches us about bravery, professionalism, wisdom, ethics, and compassion.  This could certainly be a helpful role model for our students in our present era in which the majority of our people are suffering from a sick health care delivery system.

·         Main, T.F. (1957) “The Ailment” (British Journal of Medical Psychology 30: 129-145)

Michael Travis (Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh): This 1957 paper is actually a transcript of a lecture by the famous psychotherapist T.F.Main.  It eloquently speaks to the way in which patients and staff interact in wards and institutions.  I found it very useful in understanding how to work in a ward and institutional environment and it introduced me to a way of speaking and writing about things when I was training that was different from the medical model but easy to integrate.

·         Cousins, N. (1979) Anatomy of an Illness.

Barbara Doleshal (University of Texas, San Antonio): For showing a doctor who respects his patient's point of view and for demonstrating the commitment a patient has to his own health.

·         Linder, R.M. (1999) Fifty Minute Hour: A collection of true psychoanalytic tales. 

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego): Dated but compelling account of some of the dilemmas faced by psychiatric clinicians.  One chapter attached is a great example of countertransference.

·         Williams, W.C. (1938) “The Use of Force”.

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Lipsky, M. (1983) Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the individual in public service.

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Jung, C. (1969) The Psychology of the Transference.

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico): the introduction

·         Szasz, T. (1959) “The communication of distress between the child and parent” (British Journal of Medical Psychology. 32:161-70)

Don Lipsitt (Harvard): An excellent basic reading for psychodynamic appreciation of the maternal-child (or patient-doctor, or person-to-person) relationship.

 

On training psychiatrists

·         Hickey, D. (1997) “Pontormo's Rainbow” (In Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico): things that help residents and fellows remember their childhood and adolescence.

·         Bradford, W. (1999) Red Sky at Morning

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico): things that help residents and fellows remember their childhood and adolescence.

·         Potok, C. (1967) The Chosen

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico): things that help residents and fellows remember their childhood and adolescence.

·         Rumsey, T. (1985) Pictures from a Trip.

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico): things that help residents and fellows remember their childhood and adolescence.

·         Watterson, B. Calvin and Hobbes Collection: Something Under the Bed is Drooling (1988), Yukon Ho! (1989), Weirdos from Another Planet (1990), The Revenge of the Baby Sat (1991)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico): things that help residents and fellows remember their childhood and adolescence.

·         Fitzhugh, L. (2001) Harriet the Spy

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico): things that help residents and fellows remember their childhood and adolescence.

·         Rawls, W. (1961) Where the Red Ferns Grow: A story of two dogs and a boy.

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico): things that help residents and fellows remember their childhood and adolescence.

·         Neville, E.C. (1963) It’s Like This, Cat.

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico): things that help residents and fellows remember their childhood and adolescence.

·         Sullivan, B.S. (1989) Psychotherapy Grounded in the Feminine Principle.

Stephanie Heard (Michigan State University): For guidance when a resident can't function as 'father' in psychotherapy (or for that matter, a supervisor in supervision)

 

On psychiatry

·         McHugh, P.R. & Slavney, P.R. (1988) Perspectives on Psychiatry. Johns Hopkins Press

Hamid Tavakoli (Naval Medical Center): Helps define what a psychiatrist does and why we do what we do is essential to medicine

Tom Wise (Johns Hopkins)

·         McHugh, P.R. (2005) The Mind has Mountains: Reflections on Society and Psychiatry. Johns Hopkins Press.

Hamid Tavakoli (Naval Medical Center): Fantastic book on ethical/social issues we face as psychiatrists

·         McHugh, P.R. (2008) Psychiatry’s Clash over Meaning, Memory, and Mind.

Tom Wise (Johns Hopkins)

·         Stahl, S. (2008) Essentials of Psychopharmacology (Cambridge, 3rd Ed)

Tom Wise (Johns Hopkins)

Philip Muskin (Columbia)

·         Rosenhan, D. (1973) “On Being Sane in Insane Places” (Science: 179: 250-258

Karen Broquet (Southern Illinois University)

·         Ghaemi, N. (2007) Concepts of Psychiatry: A Pluralistic Approach to the Mind and Mental Illness.  (Johns Hopkins)

Mohammad Alsuwaidan (University of Toronto)

·         Jacobi, J. (Ed) (1958) Paracelsus: Selected Writings. 

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico): Especially 'The Art of Medicine', 'The Mission of Medicine', 'The Merciful Physician', and 'School of Medicine'

 

On psychiatry’s history

·         Porter, R. (2003) Madness: A Brief History (Oxford University Press)

Art Walaszek (University of Wisconsin): Roy Porter was a brilliant medical historian whose life was cut short by cancer several years ago.  His petite book covers a lot of territory in the history of mental illness.  I think it is crucial to understand our profession’s history so that we can better appreciate the context of modern psychiatric practice.

·         Scull, A. (2007) Madhouse: A Tragic Tale of Megalomania and Modern Medicine. (Yale)

David Lynn (Loyola University): This is a good antidote to excessive zeal and hubris

·         Havens, L. (1973) Approaches to the Mind (Harvard)

David Lynn (Loyola University): This reminds us of our diverse (and sometimes contradictory) intellectual heritage

·         Tuskegee Study (eg Bad blood: The Tuskegee Syphillis Experiment by James Jones (1981); Tuskegee’s Truths: Rethinking the Tuskegee syphillis study, Ed. Susan Reverby (2000)

Barbara Doleshal (University of Texas, San Antonio): So we don’t forget our failings in medicine.

 

On being human

·         Vaillant, G.E. (1977) Adaptation to Life. Little, Brown.

Stuart Munro (University of Missouri-Kansas City)

·         Vaillant, G.E. (2008) Spiritual Evolution: A Scientific Defense of Faith.  Broadway

Paul Summergrad (Tufts University): Especially the last 2/3 of the book

·         Pirsig, R.M. (1974) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Bantam

Stuart Munro (University of Missouri-Kansas City)

·         Twain, M. (1899) Huckleberry Finn.

Stuart Munro (University of Missouri-Kansas City): Huck Finn struggled with a dilemma in deciding what to do about Jim.  He reached Kohlberg’s highest level of moral development by deciding to act in opposition to his upbringing, his culture and the law of the land in his triumphant declaration ‘all right, then, I’ll go to hell.’

·         Colapinto, J. (2006) As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl.  (Harper)

Karen Broquet (Southern Illinois University)

·         Ecclesiastes (King James Version)

David Lynn (Loyola University): “The race is not to the swift…”

·         Frankl, V. (1962) Man’s Search for Meaning

Mohammad Alsuwaidan (University of Toronto)

Barb Doleshal (University of Texas, San Antonio)

·         Sadler, J. (2007) “The psychiatric significance of the personal self.” (Psychiatry 70: 113-129)

John Sadler (University of Texas Southwestern)

·         Malone, M. (2001) Handling Sin.

Barbara Doleshal (University of Texas, San Antonio): A great example of the humorous, adventurous, often unintentional quest we all take as we try to live in sync with our core beliefs.  A great read!

·         Teaching tolerance magazine (Southern Poverty Law Center)

Barbara Doleshal (University of Texas, San Antonio): Teaches us tolerance (meant for grammar and high school, but informative on how attitudes are shaped).

·         Bettleheim, B. (1943) “Individual and mass behavior in extreme situations.”  (Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, 38: 417-452)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Winnicott, D.W. “Delinquency as a sign of hope” (In Home is where we start from: Essays by a psychoanalyst, 1986)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Eiseley, L. (2000) All the Strange Hours: The Excavation of a Life.

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Wheelis, A. (1966) The Quest for Identity.

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Fisher, N. (2008) Sailing Home. Using Homer's Odyssey to Navigate Life's Perils and Pitfalls.

Paul Summergrad (Tufts): A look at the Odyssey from a Buddhist and developmental perspective

·         Ellison, R. (1952) Invisible Man

Stephanie Heard (Michigan State University): When student's can directly contemplate issues of race and racism as applied to providing medical care.

·         Walker, A. (1983)  The Color Purple

Stephanie Heard (Michigan State University)

 

On suffering

·         Redfield Jamison, K. (1995) An Unquiet Mind.

Josh Bess (University of Michigan). I think [it] should be required reading for psychiatry residents.  The reasons for that are many…not least of which is the value of thinking about one's true feelings about having a colleague who has such a severe mental illness.

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego)

·         Styron, W. (1990) Darkness Visible: A memoir of madness

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego)

Paul Mohl (University of Texas, Southwestern)

·         Plath, S. (1963) The Bell Jar

Philip Muskin (Columbia)

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego)

·         Middlebrook, D. (1992) Anne Sexton: A Biography

Karen Broquet (Southern Illinois University)

·         Beers, C.W. (1925) A Mind that Found Itself: An Autobiography

Karen Broquet (Southern Illinois University)

·         Haddon, M. (2003) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Markus Kruesi (Medical University of South Carolina)

·         Solomon, A. (1998) “Anatomy of Melancholy” (The New Yorker, January 12)

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego): Great account of the experience of depression

·         Guest, J. (1982) Ordinary People

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego)

·         Chen, P.W. (2007) Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality.

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego): a great account of why palliative care is so overlooked and important.

·         Shengold, L. (1989) Soul Murder: the effects of childhood abuse and deprivation

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Shengold, L. (1989) “Everything: A poetic meditation on Freud's question, 'what does  a woman want?'” (International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 70: 419-422)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Gunther, J. (1992) Death Be Not Proud.

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Gaes, J. (1987) My book for kids with cancer: a child’s autobiography of hope. 

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Bernardo, L.M. (1988) “A message for grown-ups: from the children of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, with the help of the child life department.”  (Journal of Emergency Nursing, 14: 127-28)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Joseph, S.M. (2004) The Me Nobody Knows: Children's Voices from the Ghetto

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Shelley, M.W. (1818) Frankenstein.

Stephanie Heard (Michigan State University): For the ultimate lesson in narcissism.

 

Miscellaneous

·         Joyce, J. (1964) A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Penguin

Stuart Munro (University of Missouri-Kansas City)

·         Joyce, J. The Dead

Stuart Munro (University of Missouri-Kansas City)

·         Hemingway, E. (1963) Indian Camp (in The Snows of Kilamanjaro, Penguin)

Stuart Munro (University of Missouri-Kansas City)

·         Mann, T. Death in Venice (2005)

Stuart Munro (University of Missouri-Kansas City)

·         Rumi

Mohammad Alsuwaidan (University of Toronto)

·         Shaffer, P. (1974) Equus

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego)

·         Miller, A. (1951) Death of a Salesman

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego)

·         Stories by Gogol, Chekov, O’Connor

Sid Zisook (University of California, San Diego)

·         Roth, P. (2006) Everyman

Jason Caplan (Creighton University)

·         Burroughs, E.R. John Carter of Mars

Philip Muskin (Columbia)

·         Fleming, I. (2008) The Collected Works of Ian Fleming

Philip Muskin (Columbia)

·         Asimov, I. (1953) I Robot

Stephanie Heard (Michigan State University)

·         Heinlein, R.A. (1991) Stranger in a Strange Land

Stephanie Heard (Michigan State University)

 

Poetry

·         Olds, Sharon. “The Race” (in Strike Sparks: Selected Poems 1980-2002)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Olds, Sharon. “Looking at them asleep” (in Strike Sparks: Selected Poems 1980-2002)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Auden, W.H. “Musee des Beaux Arts” (in Another Time, 1940)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Willard, Nancy. “A hardware store as proof of the existence of God” (in Swimming Lessons: New and Selected Poems, 1996)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Hughs, Ina. “A prayer for children” (in A Prayer for Children, 1997)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Beenink, K.D. “Hospital Haiku” (In Ward Rounds, 1970)

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Eliot, T.S. “Prufrock” and “Four Quartets”

Bob Bailey (University of New Mexico)

·         Kenyon, J.  “Having it out with melancholy” (in Constance, 1993)

Kimberly Best (Einstein University)

 

Film

·         Behind the Lines (aka Regeneration) (1998, Director: Gillies MacKinnon)

David Lynn (Loyola University): Portrays a British Army treatment center for PTSD during WWI

·         Blade Runner (1982, Director: Ridley Scott)

Stephanie Heard (Michigan State University):

·         Lone Star (1996, Director: John Sayles)

Stephanie Heard (Michigan State University): Eloquently speaks of what differences between us matter, and which do not.

 

January 2009

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