There are two questions I would like to address before I write about why I like being an academic psychiatrist: 1) What is an academic psychiatrist? and 2) What personality characteristics drive someone to become an academic psychiatrist? I define an academic psychiatrist as someone who is interested and involved in teaching and training, researching, writing, and publishing, and, most probably, affiliated with a university setting. There are at least three personality characteristics that may attract a person to academia: 1) interest in growth of self and others; 2) curiosity and inquiry into how things work; and 3) interest in sharing ideas.

During my medical school education, residency training, and early professional career, I thought of myself as a clinician first. After finishing my child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship, I decided to join the Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital in Baltimore, as I wanted to learn and practice intensive, psychodynamically-based treatment for severely disturbed children and adolescents, to help them learn about themselves and grow, and to improve and grow, myself, as a psychiatrist. I was also skeptical about clinical skills of university-based psychiatry faculty at that time. During this time, I was primarily involved in clinical and administrative work, but I also did limited clinical research, supervision, and teaching. After 12 years of good clinical experience, I was ready to explore other opportunities and joined a university program as faculty, and, about 10 years ago, got an opportunity to direct a child and adolescent psychiatry program and a child psychiatry fellowship training program. If there is one thing I have to choose about why I like being an academic psychiatrist, it is to see and be part of someone’s development and growth, whether it is a patient, trainee, or junior faculty. I also like the idea that, by training residents, fellows, psychology interns, and so on, one can influence the care of a large number of youth with mental health issues who are involved in various systems of care. Last, as an academic psychiatrist, I enjoy organizing, bringing ideas and activities together, whether it is a seminar, curriculum development, rotations, or editing a book. Overall, despite the challenges and tribulations of daily life, it has been a great pleasure for me to be an academic psychiatrist.