The teaching of the biological basis of psychiatry

1. What is usually taught as biological psychiatry in psychiatric residency training is mainly psychopharmacology, but biology has a lot more to offer to psychiatry educators. 2. The main thesis of this article is that an introductory course on the applications to psychiatry based on the theory of the evolution of the species by natural selection and mutation, along with a comprehensive theory of mind, may contribute to: (i) helping young physicians to integrate the diverse and extensive knowledge acquired during the residency training; (ii) aid in keeping the psychiatrist within the medical approach to mental illnesses while promoting the specific features of the specialty, and (iii) perhaps developing a general theoretical framework that allows psychiatrists to maintain a prominent role in the mental health staff. 3. The author describes how he has conducted such training in Venezuela. It is expected that the author's ideas will serve as a forum for discussion of this pivotal subject.