Professional interests among residency applicants in psychiatry : a pilot study of autobiographical statements.

Spontaneous declarations of field of interest by 150 applicants to the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute-West Los Angeles V.A. Medical Center psychiatric residency program in 1986 were examined. In essays written as part of the National Resident Matching Program, many applicants expressed several areas of interest. About one-third of applicants expressed an interest in research, and about one-quarter expressed interests in teaching, psychotherapy, biological psychiatry, or child psychiatry. Between 5% and 9% expressed interest in community psychiatry, adolescent psychiatry, psychoanalysis, geriatric psychiatry, and chemical dependency, and <5% expressed interest in cross-cultural, emergency, legal, or administrative psychiatry.