Psychiatry Resident Quality of Life.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate psychiatry resident physician quality of life.

Methods: A voluntary, anonymous, 10-min survey was e-mailed to residents from all 14 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited programs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Included in the survey was the Multi-Cultural Quality of Life Inventory (MQLI).

Use and characterization of personal psychotherapy by psychiatry residents.

Objective: The authors evaluated psychiatry resident participation in and description of personal psychotherapy, reasons for being in psychotherapy, and barriers to personal psychotherapy.

Methods: All 14 program directors for programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware provided e-mail addresses for current categorical residents. The authors e-mailed a voluntary, anonymous, 10-min survey to residents through www.

Psychotherapy Training: Residents' Perceptions and Experiences.

Objective: This survey examined actual training hours in psychotherapy modalities as reported by residents, residents' perceptions of training needs, and residents' perceptions of the importance of different aspects of psychotherapy training.

Method: A brief, voluntary, anonymous, Internet-based survey was developed. All 14 program directors for Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accredited programs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware provided email addresses for current categorical residents.

Medication adherence: a review of the literature and implications for clinical practice.

Adherence is defined as the extent to which a patient's behavior coincides with medical or prescribed health advice. Adherence is considered non-judgmental and is preferred over the term "compliance," which carries negative connotations and suggests blame for the patient. A major challenge in the field of psychiatry has been to understand why patients may or may not adhere to medication and other treatment recommendations.

Emergency management of agitation in pregnancy.

Objective: This study aimed to better understand how agitated pregnant women are pharmacologically managed in a psychiatric emergency service (PES).

Method: A retrospective chart review was conducted on 80 women admitted to a PES with HCG-positive urine, from January 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005. Of these, 31 patients required medication for agitation.

Problems in Maintenance ECT in Bipolar Disorder: Replacement by Lithium and Anticonvulsants.

The authors describe three elderly patients whose electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was characterized by protracted and unsatisfactory courses and frequent relapse. Sustained improvement resulted from the discontinuation of maintenance ECT and continuation of pharmacotherapy with combinations of lithium and carbamazepine or valproic acid. The patients are compared to a more typical patient with bipolar disorder who was successfully treated with long-term maintenance ECT.

Caffeine-Associated Cardiac Dysrhythmia During ECT: Report of Three Cases.

Caffeine is increasingly being used by ECT practitioners to augment seizure duration in selected patients. We note one report of adverse cardiovascular effects with this procedure. We report three cases of severe cardiac dysrhythmia, all appearing in the present of caffeine.

Maintenance ECT in Coexisting Affective and Neurologic Disorders.

To the numerous reports of the safety and efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in acute depressive episodes in patients with coexisting neurologic illness, the authors report their experience with two patients treated with maintenance ECT for more than 2 years. The authors find maintenance ECT useful in ameliorating the depressive illness without worsening the neurologic illness.