The Potential Role of Psychiatry Residents' Councils

There are numerous books and articles within the scientific literature that deal with issues of training psychiatry residents and the characteristics of that milieu. Those authors that deal primarily with stress usually discuss the sources of the stress and the resultant behavioral changes that are manifested by the trainees. Typically, are relatively small portion of the discussion is devoted to how these problems are, or might be, addressed. This paper, while not itself intended to be an overview of stress in residency; will concentrate on a literature review of some specific aspects of the residency training process, primarily role definition and identity formation. There is also a review of some common , and some more unique, ways to attempt to help residents avoid maladaptive responses to training milieu stressors. The last section of the article will look at how a residents' organizational group (residents' council) might function to help facilitate the identity formation in a more adaptive manner and possibly help to alleviate some negative responses that are commonly observed in trainees.