Mental status examination: Myth or method

Our clinical experience, as well as literature review, indicate that the MSE may be more myth than method in contemporary psychiatry. Given the current common language available through DSM (III) and the APA Glossary, the MSE may well have enhanced potential as a practical clinical tool because it can be transferable, affordable, portable, and not machine dependent. Having intervened, as noted above, we intend to follow-up via clinical records, interview and questionnaire to determine whether more consistent notation by trainees is present and whether trainees have a shared concept as to form and clinical utility of the MSE.