GERALD OTIS
Author | Las Cruces, NM, USA
Gerald D. Otis, PhD, was born in Northfield, Minnesota. He attended St. Olaf College for two years, and graduated from the University of Minnesota. He earned his PhD in Psychology from the University of Arizona in 1966. After completing a clinical internship at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Palo Alto, California he joi.... more
Gerald D. Otis, PhD, was born in Northfield, Minnesota. He attended St. Olaf College for two years, and graduated from the University of Minnesota. He earned his PhD in Psychology from the University of Arizona in 1966. After completing a clinical internship at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Palo Alto, California he joined the University of New Mexico School of Medicine where he did clinical work, teaching and research. He headed the Longitudinal Study research team in the study of the career decision making process of medical students and physicians and was subsequently the Director of the American Medical Student Association Foundation Center for Physician Career Development, headquartered in Albuquerque.
For 10 years after Dr. Otis left the University, he combined a private practice with the design and construction of sculptural furniture and computer programming. During his years as a psychologist he published results of research on incidental learning, interaction of stress and personality, family psychotherapy, physician career choice, psychological type and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, post-traumatic stress disorder, and trends in violent death. He has received two awards from the Association for Psychological Type and several awards for his efforts at fine woodworking.
Following16 years working for the Veterans Administration in Medford, Oregon, where he specialized in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, Dr. Otis retired from clinical practice and now lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico with his wife Connie. Since retirement, he has authored four books: Joseph Lee Heywood: His Life and Tragic Death (biography), Paroxysm: Love, Murder and Justice in Post Civil War Washington, DC. (historical novel), Presumed Crazy: A Fisherman Gets Entangled in the Mental Health Gulag (exposé) and the present Physician Career Choice and Satisfaction (with Naomi L. Quenk). His current project is another novel, inspired by his work with veterans.