[History of the department of Psychiatry at the University of Montreal].

In its current form, the Département de psychiatrie at the Université de Montréal (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 Département without necessary bearing a particular title.The directors of the Département from 1951 to now were: Drs. Fernand Côté, Camille Laurin, Gerard Beaudoin, Yvon Gauthier, Arthur Amyot, Francis Borgeat, Hugues Cormier, Sylvain Palardy, Jean Hébert, and Emmanuel Stip.When the Département opened, it was the second institution in Montréal 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 Département, and over the years many psychiatrists trained at UdeM have attained leadership positions elsewhere. The Département attained an early reputation for excellence in both clinical and basic research.The strengths the Département 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 Département de psychiatrie de l'Université de Montréal is largely dependent on that of each of the institutions affiliated to the Université: the Pavillon Albert-Prévost de l'Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal (HSCM), the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal (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 Hôpital 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-Prévost and the emergence of behavioral therapies (Dr. Yves Lamontagne) and cognitive studies conducted by the Hôpital Louis-H. Lafontaine. Great discoveries about sleep were performed at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal 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 Département de psychiatrie. These are Drs. Camille Laurin and Denis Lazure.The Département 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 Département remains committed to its program, to pre-doctoral education (ensuring that all medical students at the Université 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.