Veterans affairs and academic medical center affiliations: the north Texas experience.

Objective: The authors review the more than 30-year history of the academic affiliation between the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and the Mental Health Service at the Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System.

Methods: The authors interviewed individuals involved at various stages in developing this affiliation about decisions and challenges.

Results: The academic association has been very successful on the whole, though not consistently so.