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In This Issue:
On behalf of Emergency Medicine, J. Stephen Bohan, MD, executive vice chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, last week presented the Department of Psychiatry with the 2005-2006 Consult of the Year Award.
This is the second time Psychiatry has received the award, which Emergency Medicine faculty present annually to an outstanding consult service. The Medical Psychiatry Service, directed by David Gitlin, MD, provides psychiatric evaluations of medical, surgical and ob/gyn inpatients, in addition to the evaluation and management of acute psychiatrically ill patients in the Emergency Department. The Medical Psychiatry Division also provides similar services at Faulkner Hospital and leads a major accredited fellowship program in Psychosomatic Medicine.
Bohan defined the ideal consultant as: “a person who responds to the page promptly, says in effect, ‘I’d be happy to come see the patient and I’ll be there as soon as I can,’ follows through on that promise, sees the patient promptly, thoroughly, non-judgmentally, discusses the results of their findings and proposed plan with the resident taking care of the patient and the attending physician, makes certain there is comprehensive and detailed documentation and makes sure that it’s kept with the patient’s record and leaves a pager number for any further inquiries.”
Bohan added, “This happens to be exactly what the Department of Psychiatry does with stunning uniformity. The quality of the thought process that goes into the patient’s care is a combination of knowledge, experience and compassion.”