Psychiatric consultation in the medical/surgical setting are 1) to ensure the safety and stability of the patient within the medical environment, 2) to collect sufficient history and medical data from appropriate sources to assess the patient and formulate the problem, 3) to conduct a mental status examination and neurological and physical examinations as necessary, 4) to establish a differential diagnosis, and 5) to initiate a treatment plan
Consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatry is the subspecialty of psychiatry concerned with medically and surgically ill patients. The C-L consultant must have an extensive clinical understanding of physical/neurological disorders and their relation to abnormal illness behavior. The C-L consultant must be a skilled diagnostician, be able to tease apart and formulate the patient's multiaxial disorders, and able to develop an effective treatment plan. The C-L consultant must also have knowledge of psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological interventions as well as knowledge of the wide array of medicolegal aspects of psychiatric and medical illness and hospitalization. The psychiatric physician, by virtue of his/her professional stature and knowledge, has the ability to supervise a multidisciplinary team
