A state perspective on psychiatric manpower development

When the shortage of qualified psychiatrists and other physicians in Ohio's mental institutions reached the critical point in 1975, a number of measures were implemented to upgrade medical manpower. Salaries were increased, and the leadership of the medical and psychiatric community was enlisted to help encourage physicians to enter public service. In addition, clinical training programs were shifted from the traditional freestanding state-hospital-based programs to programs operated by medical colleges. The author reports that the state has made steady progress in reducing psychiatric manpower shortages, but he notes that new trends, such as the diminishing interest of American medical students in psychiatry, threaten to erode the gains.