Every psychiatrist should know the basic principles of genetics, the role of genes in psychiatric disorders and their treatment, the ways in which environment affects gene expression, ethical issues in the use of genetic information, and how to talk to patients and families about genetics. These should no longer be thought of as optional or special-interest areas in psychiatric training. They are essential to current psychiatric patient care. We face multiple challenges in meeting these essential training goals. There is a paucity of faculty with the necessary expertise in many departments of psychiatry; there are severe time limitations for didactic sessions in residency programs with many competing needs; and, historically, there has been a tendency for some psychiatrists to regard genetics and neurobiology as secondary to other aspects of clinical practice. We would encourage residency programs to emphasize experiential problem-solving exercises (such as those available from the NNCI) in addition to a limited number of overview classroom lectures. Informal seminars and journal clubs can also be used to tackle genetic topics in a setting that allows for more questions and
