An Introductory Psychiatry Course with a Behavioral Science Emphasis

This outline for an introductory course in psychiatry is constructed to complement and parallel other studies in the first-year curriculum of the medical student. Its high informational content provides a scientific foundation for psychiatry analogous to the basic science foundation courses included in the first year. It utilizes a broadly oriented behavioral science approach, which serves as the preclinical background for psychiatry in the same manner as the basic sciences of biochemistry and anatomy, for example, serve medicine and surgery. Finally, time is allotted for case presentations, providing an opportunity for concrete illustration of basic behavioral and psychiatric concepts.