Personal reflections on a life of learning and teaching psychiatry

Abstract

I have been actively learning and teaching psychiatry since starting residency in 1966. Over the decades my educational endeavours have been guided by a fairly consistent set of operating principles. Fortunate opportunities in several excellent psychiatry departments and national organizations have allowed me to experiment, and these principles have tested well. My objectives for this article are to review these principles and describe some educational activities that have provided notable pleasure and lasting satisfaction. Readers may wish to try out some of these ideas. They have worked for me, and they may work for others as well.

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.