An area of special interest in general psychiatry that addresses the psychiatric and psychosocial aspects of medical care, particularly in a general hospital setting. This area is now called psychosomatic medicine and has achieved subspecialty status. The consultation-liaison psychiatrist works closely with medical-surgical physicians and nonphysician staff to enhance the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with primary medical-surgical illness and concurrent psychiatric disorders or symptoms. Consultation-liaison psychiatry may occasionally lead to a recommendation for more specific aftercare referral but more typically consists of short-term intervention by a “consultation team” with a biopsychosocial approach to illness.
Psychiatry that addresses the needs of patients who also have active medical conditions.