Private psychiatry in Switzerland

Two-thirds of Swiss psychiatrists are engaged, either exclusively or partially, in private practice, a proportion that is higher than in other countries.

A questionnaire survey of 1000 psychiatrists was carried out.

Psychiatrists in private practice display a greater degree of clinical activity, mainly with individuals, than do psychiatrists employed by public institutions; and they work principally within two practice profiles, psychoanalytical and generalist, and much less in the biological profile. They show a preference for the psychological model, mostly in a psychoanalytical orientation. Psychiatrists who have a mixed privatepublic practice - more than half of them - are even more psychoanalytically oriented than psychiatrists working exclusively in private practice. They act as an interface between the public and private sectors, playing a pivotal role as guardians of psychoanalysis, proclaiming its principles to psychiatric residents.

With the transformations taking place in the health care system, new care concepts are being developed, there is a wider variety of theoretical orientations, and the profession is therefore undergoing substantial changes. ( Int J Psych Clin Pract 2000; 4: 227 - 232).