These findings indicate that differences in the practice attitudes of males and females exist very early on in medical training, and that these differences are associated with anticipated career choices. They also suggest that the PPOS may prove useful in measuring the attitudes of practicing physicians toward their clinical roles and might predict physicians' behavioral strategies and patient medical outcomes.

An interdisciplinary course, Psychology and Film: Images of Madness, has been taught at Boston University since 1979 by two instructors: a psychologist and a film historian. This course may be pedagogically unique because of its use of feature films (90 to 110 min) as a major element of instruction. The films allow students to explore the interaction between art and psychology and make them cognizant of the cinema's ability to reflect and affect our perceptions of madness and treatment. A student survey and course evaluation substantiated the effectiveness of this instructional program.

This report examines the psychometric integrity of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) subscales, and the differences between them, in a sample of 229 psychiatric patients from 2 community mental health centers (ages 16 to 85). The results verify the overall alpha and split-half reliabilities of the instrument and indicate that greater caution needs to be exercised in clinically evaluating difference scores. Cutoff values presented in the manual appear too low to be of any statistical or diagnostic merit. Distributions for each of the 55 possible difference scores found in this sample are presented and provide a better guide for making nosological determinations.

There is a scarcity of literature on clinical care for transgender and gender variant populations with serious mental illness. At times, gender identity issues among individuals with serious mental illness have been labeled as delusions that should not be reinforced by providers. However, there are significant limitations to attributing gender variance among populations with mental illness solely to a psychotic process. The following case study research demonstrates the variation in gender identity issues among individuals with serious mental illness. These individuals may experience gender dysphoria exclusively in the context of acute psychosis or may have gender identity issues that are distinct from the mental illness. Denial of an individual's gender variant presentation by treatment staff may heighten distress, thus interfering with a collaborative treatment alliance while posing additional barriers to recovery from mental illness. Implications and applications for clinical training and further research will be presented in order to promote awareness and competent care of gender issues when co-occurring with mental illness.

This study examines assessment issues concerning transsexualism through the use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The MMPI was administered to 20 transsexuals matched within sex on age and education: five presurgical male-to-females, five postsurgical male-to-females, five presurgical female-to-males, and five postsurgical female-to-males. Mean T scores for each of these four subsamples were examined in comparison to normative groups. Comparisons among the four subsamples showed significant differences in mean raw scores attributable to both sex and surgical status. The most striking of these comparisons indicated that postsurgical subjects had a higher level of psychological adjustment.