The RRC mandate for residency programs to demonstrate psychodynamic psychotherapy competency among residents: a debate.
OBJECTIVE
The Residency Review Committee (RRC) requirement that residents must achieve competency in psychodynamic psychotherapy has generated considerable deliberation.


METHODS
The authors debated this subject at the 2004 American Psychiatric Association (APA) meetings.


RESULTS
Arguments favoring current requirements emphasize the importance of psychodynamic psychotherapy for psychiatric training and practice, as essential skill and as part of core psychiatric identity. Opposing arguments, while supporting training in basic psychotherapeutic skills, focus on what some consider a skimpy evidence base, competing time requirements, changing practice patterns of psychiatry, and challenges to reliably and validly demonstrating this competency.


CONCLUSIONS
RRC decisions regarding current psychotherapy competency requirements will appreciably shape future psychiatric residency training.
Yager
Joel
J
Department of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA. jyager@unm.edu
Mellman
Lisa
L
Rubin
Eugene
E
Tasman
Allan
A
D000068:Accreditation; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000592:standards*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States