Psychiatrists With Substance Use Disorders: Positive Treatment Outcomes From Physician Health Programs

Objective:The objective of this study was to compare outcomes of psychiatrists and nonpsychiatrist physicians enrolled in state physician health programs for substance use disorders.Methods:The study used the data set from a five-year, longitudinal cohort study of 904 physicians, including 55 psychiatrists, with diagnoses of substance abuse or dependence consecutively admitted to one of 16 state physician health programs between 1995 and 2001.Results:There was a higher proportion of women among psychiatrists than among other physicians, but there were no other significant differences between the cohorts. Five-year outcomes were similar between psychiatrists and the other physicians, with at least 75% of psychiatrists continuing their medical practice after five years of monitoring and treatment.Conclusions:Psychiatrists were not overrepresented compared with other physician groups and had similar clinical outcomes at the five-year follow-up. Physician health programs appeared to be effective treatment pro...