A three-year follow-up study of the elimination of the internship. A comparative study of internship- and noninternship-trained residents in a psychiatric outpatient setting.

The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology eliminated the internship as a requirement for certification in psychiatry in 1970. Preliminary study on a psychiatric inpatient service of internship-trained first-year residents with that of a matched group of residents who entered the same program without the internship disclosed differences in patient care practices. The same group of residents in their subsequent years of training in a psychiatric outpatient service were compared. A chart review comparison disclosed differences in areas of management in psychiatric outpatient treatment, referral patterns, and use of medication. Supervisory ratings of the residents were found to differ substantially in nine of the 15 measured categories.