Psychiatry for Primary Care Physicians

Goldman (psychiatry, University of Chicago) presents material on the most common adult and childhood mental health problems in this practical guide for primary care practitioners. Covering assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of psychiatric conditions, the book will help physicians incorporate basic psychiatric care into the primary care setting. Many chapters are co-written by a psychiatrist and a practicing primary care physician. This second edition offers new chapters on the basic science of psychiatry, psychiatric emergencies, and childhood/adolescent disorders. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Albert Liebman

This book is one of what we can expect to be a new genre of books that will attempt to address the education of primary care physicians on the subject of psychiatry. The goal is to improve the ability of primary care physicians to diagnose and manage their patients' psychiatric problems in the office setting. It is the editors' intent to accomplish this goal by supplying psychiatric information that appears in specialty or subspecialty journals not read by "busy primary care practitioners." This is a book that can also be useful to medical and psychiatric residents. It is readable and is packed with succinct, state-of-the-art psychiatric information. The contributors are physicians, mostly psychiatrists, well-chosen for their expertise in the specific areas which they address in the book. Organization falls into three sections. The first two chapters address issues of psychiatric assessment and diagnosis. The next 12 chapters each address specific mental disorders by DSM-IV categories. The last four chapters address special topics as the "difficult patient," special issues of certain groups, somatic therapies, and psychotherapy. A unique feature of the book is the profuse use of bulleted tables, which read much like lecture slides. The detail in the tables can serve as a reference source for the practitioner. This book contains authoritative, state-of-the-art psychiatric information usable as a reference source on office psychiatry for the primary care practitioner. A recent publication (1998) of a book with similar intent is the MGH Guide to Psychiatry in Primary Care. The MGH book is organized by presenting symptom or problem, stressing the "Approachto the Patient," perhaps a more practical format in primary care. However, in this area of medical care, at the junction of medicine and psychiatry, primary care doctors may also benefit through the mentoring and support that can come from a collaborative mode of care with psychiatrists within their clinic setting.

Goldman , Larry S., MD (Univ of Chicago); Wise, Thomas N., MD (Georgetown Univ); Brody, David S., MD (Allegheny Univ)