Our latest profile is of Dr. William H. Wilson, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at OHSU. Dr. Wilson is also the interim director for inpatient pyschiatry. For more background about Dr. William's professional career, please check out his web page at: http://www.ohsu.edu/som-psych/faculty/wilson.htm I asked Dr. Wilson a few questions about his experiences.

1) What's your favorite restaurant in Portland?

Right now I am infatuated with the Zinc Bistro on NW 21st — it is something about their french fries.

2) What's your funniest Brown memory?

You know, I went to Brown at a remarkably unfunny time, and I don't have funny memories of the place. I remember rather, the amazing seriousness I found there. In the spring of my freshman year the faculty shut down classes to allow the entire university to address the Vietnam War in whatever way we thought best. I'm still amazed at the faculty's courage in doing so. The other "really serious" thing we were up to was educational reform, although that could have been fun, and even funny, if it hadn't been for the war. I entered in the first year of the "New Curriculum" — which in its full form was rather short lived. However, it was one of the best and most visible examples of high quality self-directed education. The efforts at Brown were pioneering and have allowed reform at other schools, even when Brown moderated its stance. I went through the whole four years without a grade. I think I was the first person at Brown to be admitted to Phi Beta Kappa on the basis of narrative evaluation by faculty, rather than by grade point average. After I finished Brown I decided to go to Medical School, so I went back to college--this time for cheap at the state school in my home town (Memphis State University, Memphis TN) largely to get a grade point average. I then went on to Penn for medical school.

I did have fun with good friends at Brown. I remember a wonderful spontaneous road trip in the dark of night packed in a car to overflowing to an amazing Italian restaurant somewhere in the depths of Rhode Island, that I could never find on my own.

3)As a psychiatrist, do you attend to any of the Portland Trailblazers?

Do you really think I would tell you? (editor's note: I'm guessing at least Sheed for SURE!).

4) How long have you lived in Oregon? What's your favorite aspect of the
state?

I've lived here since 1989. My wife and two kids and I came out overland from Philadelphia to take advantage of a job opportunity for me with OHSU, and the opportunity for all of us to learn about the mountains, the Oregon coast, and the history of the area. It has been a wonderful way for us to be close to nature. When we moved here my son was 6 months old, so he has had a chance to be close to nature during childhood (a good thing!), which he wouldn't have had in Philly. Most of our family are in the Southeast, so we go back and forth. I do love the mountains.

5) What are particularly interesting aspects of your work? How did you
get involved in it? What type of people would you recommend go into the
field?

What I like about psychiatry is that I am able to help people with some very difficult problems that are often difficult for others to understand, and that the help I am able to give makes an enormous difference for the better in the lives of a number of people. I also like the fact that in the university environment, I am able to combine the close work with individual patients, with scientific work using high tech gadgets (I do brain scanning studies), and with teaching. It's a nice mix of things.

I think people who go into psychiatry should be very good at thinking in several different ways--they need to be able to understand and appreciate narrative (like novels and plays) so that they can listen to people's stories in depth. And they need to be able to think sharply and critically about science, since a good bit of psychiatry involves neurological illness and pharmacology. Beyond that, they should like and respect people who are having major league problems with their mood or their perceptions. It is sort of like being a novelist or musician--if you have the talent and inclination, it can be a great thing, but it is definitely not for everybody.