Vanishing internship. Alternate solutions for psychiatrists

The demise of the internship is within sight. This coupled with the increased number of medical schools switching to the 3 yr curriculum, may create a serious lack of medical sophistication in the next generation of psychiatrists. As a result of their medical insufficiency, an increasing number of them may in time turn away from the medical model of psychiatry. Confronted with such an important issue it is suggested that medical schools intensify the clinical training of students. Departments of psychiatry, moreover, should provide their residents with extended experience in internal medicine and integrate even more closely with the other departments in the context of the medical school.