The RRC mandate for residency programs to demonstrate psychodynamic psychotherapy competency among residents: a debate.

Objective: The Residency Review Committee (RRC) requirement that residents must achieve competency in psychodynamic psychotherapy has generated considerable deliberation.

Methods: The authors debated this subject at the 2004 American Psychiatric Association (APA) meetings.

Results: Arguments favoring current requirements emphasize the importance of psychodynamic psychotherapy for psychiatric training and practice, as essential skill and as part of core psychiatric identity. Opposing arguments, while supporting training in basic psychotherapeutic skills, focus on what some consider a skimpy evidence base, competing time requirements, changing practice patterns of psychiatry, and challenges to reliably and validly demonstrating this competency.

Conclusions: RRC decisions regarding current psychotherapy competency requirements will appreciably shape future psychiatric residency training.