Objective: Allowing psychiatric patients access to their electronic medical record (EMR) may cause difficulty related to the sensitivity of the note content. The authors investigated whether notes written by psychiatry trainees were ready for release to patients. Methods: Authors conducted a review of 128 PGY-3 to PGY-5 outpatient notes not…

Objective: Work Place-Based Assessments (WPBAs) were introduced into psychiatry along with the new curriculum in 2005. The Royal College of Psychiatrists decided to pilot several WPBAs to ascertain their suitability. Method: Eight types of assessments (Case-Based Discussion, Assessment of Clinical Expertise, Mini-Assessed Clinical Encounter,…

Objective: Effective communication between physicians and their patients is important in optimizing patient care. This project tested a brief, intensive, interactive medical education intervention using coaching and standardized psychiatric patients to teach physician-patient communication to family medicine trainees. Methods: Twenty-six family…

Objective: Effective communication strategies are required to assess suicide risk. The authors determined whether a 2-hour simulated-patient activity during a psychiatry clerkship improved self-assessment of medical interviewing skills relevant to suicide risk-assessment. Methods: In the 2-hour simulated-patient intervention, at least one…

Background: Behavioral health services involving multiple systems of care are increasingly being provided in community as well as hospital settings. Residents therefore should be familiar with multiple systems and the role of the psychiatrist in these systems. The authors describe a curriculum incorporating principles of systems-based practice…

Objective: The authors compared the importance of items related to professional behavior among medical students rotating through their psychiatry clerkship, psychiatry residents, and attending psychiatrists. Method: The authors sent an electronic survey with 43 items (rated on the scale 1: Not at All Important; to 5: Very Important) to medical…

Objective: This article examines the benefit and feasibility of introducing a new, simulation-based learning intervention for junior psychiatry residents. Method: Junior psychiatry residents were invited to participate in a new simulation-based learning intervention focusing on agitated patients. Questionnaires were used to explore the success of…

Background/Objective: Guided by ACGME's requirements, psychiatric residency training in psychotherapy currently focuses on teaching school-specific forms of psychotherapy (i.e., cognitive-behavioral, supportive, and psychodynamic psychotherapy). On the basis of a literature review of common factors affecting psychotherapy outcomes and…

Objective: The authors demonstrate that the teaching of professional boundaries in psychiatry is an essential component of training to prevent harm to patients and to the profession. Methods: The authors illustrate overarching principles that apply to didactic teaching in seminars and to psychotherapy supervision. Results: The teaching of…

Objective: This pilot study investigates the impact of an online, interactive simulation involving an Arab American Muslim patient on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of 2nd-year medical students regarding culturally competent healthcare, both in general and specific to Arab American Muslim patients. Method: Participants (N = 199), were…

Objective: This study describes the current state of family therapy training in a sample of child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship programs. Method: Child and adolescent psychiatry fellows (N = 66) from seven training programs completed a questionnaire assessing demographics, family therapy training experiences, common models of treatment and…

Objective: The aim of this pilot project was to explore the extent to which judgments made by psychiatrist examiners accord with those of patients in postgraduate clinical examinations, so as to inform further consideration of the role of patients in such assessments. Method: Senior psychiatrist examiners (N=8) and patients (N=30) rated 16 aspects…

Objective: To assure adequate treatment for patients with mental illness worldwide, medical schools must impart positive attitudes toward psychiatry. The authors examined the effect of culture on changes in attitudes toward psychiatry among medical students receiving the same psychiatry clerkship curriculum in two different countries. Methods: A…

Objective: The authors aimed to determine if writing narratives in psychiatric training can foster empathy for severely and persistently mentally ill patients. Methods: One resident wrote first-person narrative pieces about three different patients at a community mental health clinic. She reviewed these pieces with a writing supervisor weekly. The…

Objective: The authors sought to determine the prevalence of threats and assaults by patients on psychiatry residents, their consequences, and the perceived adequacy of supports and institutional responses. Method: Authors conducted an anonymous survey of 519 psychiatry residents in 13 psychiatry programs across the United States. The survey…