The medical setting: is it beyond the psychiatrist?

Recent events in medicine have afforded psychiatrists an opportunity to move beyond the traditional boundaries of their involvement in the medical setting. The growing preoccupation of the medically ill and their families with the psychosocial aspects of medical illness, their growing dissatisfaction with current patterns of patient care, and internists' increased awareness of the psychological needs of the nonpsychiartic medical patient have led to a rethinking of mind-body dualism and to increased involvement of the psychiatrist in general medical care.