The neuroscience perspective and the changing role of the psychiatrist : the challenge for psychiatric educators.

The practice of psychiatry is undergoing rapid and radical changes because of health care reorganization and the advances in basic science. Therefore, psychiatric educators must confront the redefinition of the role of the psychiatrist in the health care system. The model of the psychiatrist who primarily provides office-based psychotherapy is outmoded. Rather, the psychiatrist must become a clinical expert in brain and behavioral sciences, with mastery over an expanding array of diagnostic techniques and responsibility for directing integrated multidisciplinary treatment and rehabilitative services. To ensure this expertise, students must receive a firm grounding in neuroscience, molecular genetics, and brain imaging in addition to the traditional curriculum.