Poor Job Quality and Public Psychiatry: Three Commentaries

Although everyone may not agree with the conclusions reached by Drs. Leehey and Misiaszek in the preceding article, there is no question that the dwindling number of psychiatrists in the public sector represents a major shift in the staffing of public mental health services. We asked three leaders in the field—a nonpsychiatrist mental health commissioner, a psychiatrist commissioner, and an academician—to comment on Leebey and Misiaszek's article and to present their perspectives on this important trend. The commentators are Joseph J. Bevilacqua, Ph.D., commissioner of the Virginia Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation; D. Michael O'Connor, M.D., director of the California Department of Mental Health; and Jonathan F. Borus, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.