The chief resident in psychiatry: Roles and responsibilities

Psychiatric residency programs have had chief resi- dents for many years, and several articles previously published describe the chief residents' unique role as both faculty and res- ident. This article describes chief resident roles and responsibili- ties and explores trends in academic psychiatry departments from 1995 to 2006. Methods: The authors mailed a survey about the roles and re- sponsibilities of chief resident positions to psychiatric residency training directors using the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT) mailing list in 1995 and e-mailed the AADPRT e-mail list in 2006. Data were col- lected by mail in 1995 and collected in 2006 by a web-based survey similar to the instrument used in 1995. Results: Joint selection of chief resident by faculty and residents, 12-month terms, protected time for administrative duties, and written job descriptions were helpful features common to most programs. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that the majority of gen- eral psychiatry residency programs use the joint selection method with a negotiated job description, as well as a 12-month term.