LAUSR

The intersection of philosophy and psychiatry (also called “philosophy of psychiatry” [1]) has emerged as an important field of study in recent decades. There are many ways in which psychiatric concepts can be subjected to philosophical inquiry. At the core of the field lies the conceptual debate over the meaning and nature of mental disorder, along with its ethical and experiential dimensions. Additionally, philosophers of psychiatry have noted that psychopathological phenomena can help illuminate various philosophical issues in the philosophy of mind. The development of this field can be appraised by the success of the journal Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology [2], the activities of the Association for the Advancement of Philosophy and Psychiatry [3], and the book series by Oxford University Press titled “International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry.”Despite the relevance of philosophy of psychiatry to practicing psychiatrists, little attempt has been made to incorporate philosophy of psychiatry in the didactic curriculum of US psychiatry residents. Philosophy of psychiatry is not included in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) psychiatry milestones or in the curriculums of the Psychiatry Resident-In-Training Examination (PRITE) or the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) exam. In contrast, UK’s Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) exam curriculum [4] includes the category of “philosophy in psychiatry,” and Royal College of Psychiatrists’ competency based curriculum [5] has included “the history and philosophy of science as it relates to concepts of mental disorder” as a component in the past. While many residency programs in the USA have components related to philosophy of psychiatry in their didactics, published reports on these courses are lacking. Among published reports of courses or curricula for psychiatry residents, our literature search led to only one report of a curriculum for child and adolescent psychiatry trainees which incorporated readings from traditional philosophy in domains such as logic, epistemology, ethics, etc. with the aim of improving critical thinking about psychiatric issues [6]. In this educational case report, we describe the development, curriculum, and implementation of a course on philosophy of psychiatry for psychiatry residents at Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (CWRU/UH). Awais Aftab (A.A.) developed and taught the course, Nassir Ghaemi (N.G.) offered guidance through an American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT) fellowship program, and Susan Stagno (S.S.) served as the institutional faculty mentor. Didactics for psychiatry residents at CWRU/UH are divided into regular mandatory sessions, expected to be attended by all available psychiatry residents, and elective sessions, which are optional to attend for interested PGY2–4 residents. Often there are two or more competing elective options for the same time slot. The didactic course on philosophy of psychiatry, following this model, was also divided into mandatory and elective components. The course was taught from November 2016 to March 2017. * Awais Aftab [email protected]