RESEARCH in psychiatry is required for better understanding of the etiology of mental illness, more efficient treatment procedures, and more effective preventive measures. Investigation in psychiatry has been limited, and the study of mental disorders has been slow. The importance of research is generally recognized, but psychiatric investigation is not, as yet, an intergal part of the specialty. The three essentials for any clinical discipline are service, research, and training, but within psychiatry expanding demands for individual and community service to the relative exclusion of research, threatens the vitality of both service and research.

A variety of factors, in addition to service pressures, have restricted the pursuit of knowledge in psychiatry and include lack of funds, lack of administrative support and interest, and the complexity of the field. However, the lack of adequately trained research personnel presents itself as one of the major deterrents to the further development of research