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Updated: Jul 31, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
Use of the psychiatric consultation letter as a therapeutic tool
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic., Australia. couperjw@svhm.org.au
Objective:
Carefully crafted medical consultation letters can serve the dual purpose of transmitting the consulted psychiatrist's opinion to the referring doctor and enhancing the quality of the doctor-patient therapeutic relationship. Using the same document for both purposes simultaneously can enhance the consultation letter's overall effectiveness, as illustrated by three case examples.
Conclusions:
Future teaching programmes for undergraduate and postgraduate psychiatry students should incorporate consultation letter writing workshops to improve students' skills in clearly expressing their opinions and management recommendations in written form.
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