Student voices: perspectives on behavioral health education

The Annapolis Conference on Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training was convened in September 2001 to address the relevance and quality of efforts to educate those who provide mental health and addiction services. It was essential that students, as the consumers of educational programs, be represented in the dialogue. Four students and one recent graduate joined a diverse group in Annapolis, which included professionals, administrators, educators, consumers of behavioral health services, and family members. The students who attended were drawn from the professions of psychiatry, psychology, social work, and nursing. In a series of personal narratives, these individuals present their views on the conference, on education and training, and on the behavioral health field in general.