Psychiatry: A specialty relegated to the basement

An article published in the today's edition of The Globe and Mail:

By Carolyn Abraham

Jai Shah [pictured] could have been any sort of doctor he wished. Even before he graduated with honours from the University of Toronto's medical school, the 30-year-old Edmonton native had earned a master's degree in international health policy from the London School of Economics, published papers and worked for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Praise follows him wherever he goes. Except for last fall – when he decided to specialize in psychiatry.

“A psychiatrist?” some of his supervisors said, “But you're smart! … You're taking the easy way out … Your patients will make your life hell … Your patients will make you depressed … What a waste of talent!”

Dr. Shah knew mentally ill people battle both their disorders and the social stigma their conditions carry. But it surprised him that psychiatrists confront a certain stigma, too.

“I'm sure the feedback has discouraged some young doctors from choosing this as their career,” said Dr. Shah, now at the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program in Boston.

In fact, Susan Abbey, who heads the U of T first-year residency program in psychiatry, said the disparaging comments are “ubiquitous.”

“I don't think there's one of our incoming residents who hasn't been exposed to negative comments from family or friends or academic supervisors,” Dr. Abbey said.

Just as lawyers can face a barrage of bottom-feeder jokes, psychiatrists, both in film and real life, have long been seen as doctors of a lesser science. Even their own physician colleagues can view their patients as difficult and time-consuming. The negativity, experts say, is contributing to a national shortage of psychiatrists and shoddy care for mentally ill people.

To read the entire article, click here.

Photograph by Jodi Hilton for The Globe and Mail.