To all my devoted readers: Welcome to the inaugural issue of CHPR—our fourth CME newsletter. Over the past couple of years I have been working full time as the director of inpatient psychiatry at a community hospital just outside of Boston. I spend my days helping people who are afflicted with serious mental illness, and whose lives are a nightmare of delusions, suicidality, substance use—and often agitation and violence. I’ve had chairs thrown at me. I’ve had patients who have swallowed pencils and eyeglasses. I’ve managed delirious patients who are refusing dialysis and are close to dying of uremia. The work is fulfilling, and the challenges are enormous, so I decided we owe it to you to present the latest techniques for helping our most seriously ill patients.

Unlike our other newsletters, which are focused on outpatient practice, the focus of CHPR is on hospital psychiatry, including inpatient units, emergency rooms, and consult liaison work. Beyond that, we have kept our usual format—incisive interviews with experts in the field, practical reviews of clinical topics, and summaries of the latest clinical trials pertaining to hospital psychiatry. Luckily, I was able to recruit a long-time Carlat Report subscriber to edit this new journal, Victoria Hendrick, MD.

I hope you enjoy this exciting new venture. Please drop me a line to let me know how you like it and what topics you’d like to see covered.

Sincerely,
Daniel Carlat, MD
dcarlat@thecarlatreport.com