An Essay on Administration

A reasonably sophisticated knowledge of administrative theory and practice is important to psychiatrists in their clinical and educational activities. By virtue of their skills and attitudes, psychiatrists have particular administrative capacities and vulnerabilities. A useful body of administrative knowledge is readily accessible to psychiatrists and should be available to psychiatric residents. The author presents some samples of this knowledge, which includes empirically derived principles and partially tested practices. These, in turn, have generated conceptually useful theories that warrant further testing.