What’s in a Name? A Lot!

I am a psychiatrist living with bipolar disorder and am responding to the column in the November 15 issue by APA President Bruce Schwartz, M.D., focusing our attention on physician health.

I emphatically agree with the letter to the editor published in the January 17 issue, “What’s in a Name?” We should be called “psychiatrists,” based on the breadth and depth of our role, rather than “behavioral health specialists,” as if we were concerned only with the behavior of the people we serve.

The way the people with whom we work are referred to also has been undergoing an unfortunate change, from “patients” to “clients.” The word “patient” is derived from a word that means suffering, while the word “client” essentially means a customer. Medicine, including psychiatry, is a profession, not a business. The motto of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society is “Be Worthy to Serve the Suffering.” This strikes me as a worthwhile goal for all of us. Its essence is service to our suffering patients, an intrinsically deep responsibility, not merely superficial service to customers.

CAVIN P. LEEMAN, M.D.

New York, N.Y.