The medical education of generation Rx

Psychodynamically trained psychiatrists have much to add to the education of all medical students, not only those who will enter Psychiatry. Aspects of the treatment dyad, including the formation of durable bonds between physician and patient, as well as the management of the manifestations of transference and countertransference are several of the areas of particular expertise of psychodynamically oriented clinicians. These principles enhance the professional training of the next generation of clinicians, researchers, and medical educators. In addition, the multiple meanings of illness for physicians and patients, both conscious and unconscious, can be fruitfully explored using psychoanalytic principles. Such an understanding can lead to greater satisfaction with the evaluation and treatment of illness for patients and their families, who are, after all, ourselves. Enlightened self-interest, then, should guide our increased participation in medical education.