Characterization of psychiatry residency training programs

Psychiatry residency training programs were characterized on four dimensions in a pilot study of seven West Coast schools. Residents and faculty rated their programs on academic versus clinical, community-based versus institution-based, private versus public practice, and biological versus psychological orientation. Faculty and residents from the same schools differed only on the academic-clinical dimension. Significant differences existed between schools on each axis. Variation in ratings on the biological-psychological axis suggests that claims to a "biopsychosocial" orientation may be too broad to be meaningful. This method of dimensional ratings appears appropriate for program assessment and deserves further development.