Initiation of a Psychiatric Teaching Program for Surgeons

A program was set up to instill in surgical residents an awareness of the importance of emotional reactions in surgical patients. In weekly sessions patients were presented and their management discussed; their emotional distress was examined in regard to its manifestations, incidence, and underlying causes. The authors suggest that such a teaching program should aim at a basic change in the surgeon's attitudes toward emotional reactions, particularly anxiety, and thus enable him to manage his patients in a more rational and comprehensive manner.