The Psychiatrist and Peer Review: A Psychodynamic Perspective

Consideration of peer review is timely, given that formalisation of peer review processes is one of the responses the psychiatric profession could make to increasing calls for accountability from within and without the profession. The establishment of formal peer review evoked strong, often hostile, responses among psychiatrists in the United States, reflecting considerable underlying anxiety. This paper examines the responses to formal peer review in psychiatrists from a psychodynamic perspective.