PRESENTATION History of psychiatry at the University of Montreal: passages and deadlocks

In its current form, the Departement de psychiatrie at the Universite de Montreal (UdeM) was created in 1964. The first person to have headed was Dr. Gerard Beaudoin. Between 1948 and 1964, several others psychiatrists were heading the Departement without necessary bearing a particular title. The directors of the Departement from 1951 to now were: Drs. Fernand Cote, Camille Laurin, Gerard Beaudoin, Yvon Gauthier, Arthur Amyot, Francis Borgeat, Hugues Cormier, Sylvain Palardy, Jean Hebert, and Emmanuel Stip. When the Departement opened, it was the second institution in Montreal that was training psychiatrists. During the first year, there were 3 psychiatric residents, but within 20 years this number had increased to 63. From the early years, teaching psychiatry to residents, and subsequently to all UdeM medical students, has been a priority in the Departement, and over the years many psychiatrists trained at UdeM have attained leadership positions elsewhere. The Departement attained an early reputation for excellence in both clinical and basic research. The strengths the Departement developed in its early years in clinical psychopharmacology, in basic research in neurotransmitters, sleep, cognition, forensic, and in community psychiatry have been augmented more recently with active programs in psychotherapy research, substance abuse research, psychoneuroendocrinology, developmental aspects of behavior, genetics, epigenetics as well as the study of the brain through a variety of brain scanning techniques. The history of the Departement de psychiatrie de l'Universite de Montreal is largely dependent on that of each of the institutions affiliated to the Universite: the Pavillon Albert-Prevost de l'Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal (HSCM), the Institut universitaire en sante mentale de Montreal (IUSMM) and the CHU Sainte-Justine. We must also remember that the discovery of the potentiating of lithium by antidepressants was made by Dr. Demontigny team at the Hopital Louis-H. Lafontaine (now IUSMM). Significant advances related to the interaction between the psychoanalytic movement and community psychiatry were greatly influenced by the work at the Pavillon Albert-Prevost and the emergence of behavioral therapies (Dr. Yves Lamontagne) and cognitive studies conducted by the Hopital Louis-H. Lafontaine. Great discoveries about sleep were performed at the Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal by teams gathered around Jacques-Yves Montplaisir. We also recall that two ministers from the Quebec government with important political responsibilities were members or directors of the Departement de psychiatrie. These are Drs. Camille Laurin and Denis Lazure. The Departement aims to strengthen clinical and basic research by contributing new knowledge that will improve care for people with mental disorders. These efforts benefit both patients and the medical students and residents being trained to care for them. The Departement remains committed to its program, to predoctoral education (ensuring that all medical students at the Universite are trained to recognize, diagnose, and be familiar with treatment options for mental disorders), to post-doctoral education for future psychiatrists, and to the care of Quebec's patients. For over 50 years, the academic department has played a key role in attracting and recruiting excellent academic and clinical resources to staff the programs and services of our hospital partners.