Plenary

Friday, June 13

8:00 – 9:00 a.m.

Explorers’ Room

 

SPECIAL ADDRESS

 

Contributing to the Psychiatric

Education Literature:  A Down-to-earth

Look at the Process of Getting Published

 

Laura Weiss Roberts, M.D.

University of New Mexico

Editor-in-Chief of Academic Psychiatry

 

Educational goals: This plenary presentation will provide an introduction to the process of getting published in the psychiatric education literature, giving guidance on how to approach the writing process, on what makes a good paper, and on emerging ethical standards in the medical education literature

 

Method:  Participants will be introduced to the process of getting a paper published in the psychiatric education literature, including manuscript preparation, submission, editorial review, peer-review, revision and resubmission, editorial decision-making, and publication production.  Information will be provided on specialized format papers, such as annotated bibliographies, review papers, brief reports.  Specific strategies for assessing one’s strengths and motivations as a writer and collaborator, for choosing the “right“ target journal for a paper, for selecting the “right” presentation of the content, for responding to reviewers’ concerns, and for working with editors will be addressed.  We will also cover important but seldom discussed considerations related to collaboration with co-authors, authorship “ethics”, and scientific integrity issues. Essential skills for medical educators regarding ethical and regulatory issues in educational research will be outlined.  Relevant federal regulations for educational research will be outlined. 

 

Results:  This presentation is aimed at enhancing the understanding and skills of early and middle career academic psychiatrists with an interest in writing manuscripts for publication in the field of psychiatric education.  It will also be valuable for more senior faculty who serve as mentors, senior authors, and guest editors.

 

Conclusions:  This plenary session will help enhance confidence and competence of members of the audience in approaching the process of getting published in the psychiatric education literature.

 

 

 

 

Workshop

Friday, June 13

9:00 – 10:15 a.m.

Wapiti 1

 

Clerkships:  Going Paperless

 

Aurora J. Bennett, M.D.

University of Cincinnati

Lowell Tong, M.D.

University of California, San Francisco

Kemal Sagduyu, M.D.

University of Missouri, Kansas City

 

Educational goals:  This workshop will provide various examples of innovative web or server-based on-line evaluation programs being utilized by Psychiatry Clerkships across the country.  We will describe the benefits and challenges inherent in the development and implementation of these evaluation systems.

Description:  Advances in technology are becoming increasingly more available, affordable, and useful in the field of medical education.  Students now entering the clerkships possess greater familiarity and comfort with accessing notes, tests, lectures, and medical literature from computers and PDAs.  It is an optimal time to discuss the transition to a relatively “paperless” clerkship, as web-or server-based evaluation systems are increasingly available and becoming more prevalent in medical schools and residency programs.

 

On-line schedules and evaluations were introduced into the clerkships at our various institutions during the past two years.  The on-line programs utilized by our departments range from large commercial programs to small clerkship-specific designs.  Students and faculty complete evaluations on-line and the data are organized in a manner that facilitates the tracking of various sites and preceptors.  Reports are readily generated that provide faculty with their individual scores and comments, from students, along with the numerical averages at comparable sites.  The development and implementation of these programs has been challenging, but the rewards far exceed the difficulties.  Examples of the various systems will be viewed as a means of promoting discussion about the pros and cons of the varying designs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Workshop

Friday, June 13

9:00 – 10:15 a.m.

Moose 2

 

Using Guided Role-plays to Prepare

Students for Standardized Patient Experiences

 

Julia Frank, M.D.

George Washington University


Educational goals:  Participants in this workshop will learn how to
use semistructured role playing exercises to teach interviewing skills
and the skills of psychiatric assessment in primary care settings.

Description:  For the last five years, clerks at the George Washington University
School of Medicine have learned outpatient psychiatric assessment skills
in part through participating in a series of semistructured role plays.
These exercises, which build on the problem based methods used in
preclinical courses, may be self or faculty led in groups ranging from
four to thirty people. Students are assigned in advance to be a primary
care doctor, an unfamiliar patient or a psychiatric consultant. The
latter two receive specific information and research their tasks ahead
of time. During the exercise, the naive primary care doctor interviews
the patient, observers join in, and finally the consultant reviews the
diagnosis and treatment options for the group as a whole.

This method, which has generally been well received by students,
resembles the standardized patient experiences that will soon be part of
national boards. The interviews are longer than typical SP experiences,
but the format allows for direct observation of interviewing technique
and feedback, with particular emphasis on simultaneous
behavioral-psychiatric and medical assessment.

Workshop participants will be invited to participate in a sample
exercise and to review the available feedback. They will then have time
to offer their reactions and suggestions for improving this experience.
A complete copy of the current curriculum will be available for
participants to take and adapt to their own institutions.

 

 

 

 

 

Workshop

Friday, June 13

9:00 – 10:15 a.m.

Wapiti 2

 

(Down-to-earth) Writers’ Workshop: 

Writing Manuscripts for Publication

 

Laura Weiss Roberts, M.D

University of New Mexico

John Coverdale, M.D.

Baylor School of Medicine

Alan Louie, M.D.

University of California, San Francisco

Academic Psychiatry

 

Educational goals: This workshop is a down-to-earth, hands-on introduction to the essential skills of writing manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed academic medical journals. 

 

Method:  In helping participants to build their writing skills, the course will involve presentation of valuable and detailed information on the framework of empirical and conceptual manuscripts and of specialized format papers, such as annotated bibliographies, review papers, brief reports.  Participants will be introduced to the process of getting a paper published, including manuscript preparation, submission, editorial review, peer-review, revision and resubmission, editorial decision-making, and publication production.  This process will be discussed in a step-by-step fashion, giving insights from the perspective of writers, reviewers, and editors.  Specific strategies for assessing one’s strengths and motivations as a writer and collaborator, for choosing the “right“ target journal for a paper, for selecting the “right” presentation of the content, for responding to reviewers’ concerns, and for working with editors will be addressed.  We will also cover important but seldom discussed considerations related to collaboration with co-authors, authorship “ethics”, and scientific integrity issues. This workshop will involve interactive learning and Q and A formats, and it will have a tone of warmth and collegiality.  Up-to-date resource materials will be provided to all participants.  

 

Results:  This workshop is aimed at enhancing the skills of early and middle career academic psychiatrists with respect to writing manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.  It will also be valuable for more senior faculty who serve as mentors, senior authors, and guest editors.

 

Conclusions:  Psychiatric educators may receive benefit from activities which enhance and expand their skill set and prepare them for the tasks of careers in academic psychiatry.

Poster

Friday, June 13

10:15 – 10:45 a.m.

Explorers’ Room

 

Psychiatrists Compared to Other Specialists on Performance Before, During and After Medical School: Over Three Decades of Data from the Jefferson Longitudinal Study

 

Frederick S. Sierles, M.D.

Finch University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School

Michael J. Vergare, M.D.

Mohammadreza Hojat, Ph.D.

Joseph S. Gonnella, M.D.

Thomas Jefferson University

 

Educational goals:  Participants will compare longitudinal academic performance of psychiatrists compared to other specialists, and discuss the implications of this for career counseling and curriculum development for third and early fourth year

medical students and first year psychiatry residents, and for recruitment of medical students into psychiatry.

 

Objectives:  This study was designed to compare psychiatrists with other physicians on measures of academic performance before, during and after medical school.

 

Method:  More than three decades of data for graduates of Jefferson Medical College (n=5,701) were analyzed.  Those who pursued psychiatry were compared to physicians in seven other specialties on 21 performance measures.  Using analysis of covariance controlled gender effect.

 

Results:  Psychiatrists performed better on measures of verbal ability and general information before medical school, and in evaluations of knowledge and skills in behavioral sciences during medical school, but not on the examinations of general medical sciences.  Also, in their first year of residency training, psychiatrists were rated high on the clinical competence area of socioeconomic aspects of patient care, but not in the areas of knowledge and data gathering, interpersonal skills and attitudes.  The latter finding is counterintuitive but readily explainable. 

 

Conclusions: The results have implications for career counseling of third year and early-fourth-year medical students, for program planning and career counseling for first year psychiatry residents, and for recruitment of medical students into psychiatry.  More attention should be paid to the general medical education of psychiatrists and other non-generalist specialists.

 

 

Poster

Friday, June 13

10:15 – 10:45 a.m.

Explorers’ Room

Professional Development Groups for Medical Students


Julia Frank, M.D.
George Washington University

 

Educational goals:

1.      Increase students’ self-awareness in their interactions with psychiatric patients.

2.      Increase students’ tolerance for patients’ distress.

3.      Improve residents’ ability to use non-directive teaching methods with medical students.


Description:  Since July, 2002, students on their third year psychiatry
clerkship at George Washington University School of Medicine have
participated in a modified group exercise based on the work of Michael
and Enid Balint. This method, used extensively with primary care
practitioners in England and in some US residency programs, involves
small group sessions in which one member is instructed to present a
patient from the point of view of the doctor patient relationship. The
presenter is encouraged to reflect on his/her reactions to the
patient, for the purpose of understanding more about the patient, based upon
the countertransference he/she elicits. Others in the group then comment
on the dyad presented.


Groups of 8 students meet three times during the clerkship for an hour
fifteen minutes. Advanced residents lead the groups, under the
supervision of a resident who has received special training in
Balint’s methods.


Conclusions
:  Based on anonymous feedback, students have found these
groups helpful in buffering the emotional stress of dealing with very
ill psychiatric patients, especially children. The residents leading
the groups have also expressed high levels of satisfaction with the
experience, which leads to an open discussion of issues rarely
addressed during formal clerkship didactics. By June, there will be
enough feedback available to comment on whether this experience
increases or stifles students’ self declared interest in working with
the mentally ill.

Poster

Friday, June 13

10:15 – 10:45 a.m.

Explorers’ Room

 

Supervising the Supervisors:  A Group for Faculty and

Resident Development in the Education of Medical Students

 

Ruth M. Lamdan, M.D.

Temple University

 

Educational goals:  At the conclusion of this poster, participants will gain an understanding of the group process as a tool for faculty development and assurance of uniformity amongst clerkship training sites as mandated by the LCME.

 

Introduction:            Temple University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry faculty has more than doubled in size over the past year with the hiring of our new graduates.  This paucity of teaching experience in our new faculty and the “end of school” medical student survey from the AAMC alerted us to educational needs of our students. 

 

Method:  At the recommendation of our Chair and Chief of Service we created a “Supervising the Supervisors” group to address these training goals.  This forum has been used for the purpose of improving resident supervision in psychiatry residency training programs. Our review of the literature failed to uncover its utility or description.  Our monthly group for all faculty and our chief residents is ongoing.  We are addressing both the content and process of the clinical clerkship curriculum, the evaluation process and the critical clinical skills which we require to pass the rotation.

 

Findings/Results:  We will report on the beginning development of this group:  the growth of our faculty identity and cohesiveness, specific training directives, evaluation standards, specific curriculum and course content: to establish our unique educational culture.  Future goals include the development of qualitative measures of our faculty process.  We will also disseminate the new standards and techniques for improving the supervision of medical students to our off-site faculty to assure uniformity amongst training sites and enhance their supervisory skills. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poster

Friday, June 13

10:15 – 10:45 a.m.

Explorers’ Room

 

 

A Computerized Self-Assessment

Module for Psychiatry Medical Students

 

Simon Kung, M.D.

Maria I. Lapid, M.D.

Lois E. Krahn, M.D.

Mayo Clinic

Educational goals:  To learn about (1) a free computerized self-assessment module for medical students in Psychiatry clerkships, (2) how to use this module at your own institution, and (3) how to contribute to this project.

Description:  Adult learning techniques (such as self-directed learning) have become more popular in today’s teaching, and today’s medical students are increasingly computer-savvy.  There is a wealth of computer-based learning materials available, ranging from on-line textbooks to interactive CD-ROM’s.  However, a simple internet search for computerized Psychiatry self-assessment programs failed to yield usable results.  While they may exist, they are not readily accessible.

 

We designed a simple and user-friendly computer program to allow students to self-test their knowledge of Psychiatry.  The program presents a series of multiple-choice questions drawn from a databank of questions geared towards content found on standardized, national Psychiatry examinations.  Students are familiar with this method of testing because of the computerized USMLE examinations.  The program runs on any Microsoft Windows computer that has Microsoft Access, a widely-available database program.

 

In the spirit of academic collaboration and to decrease barriers to access, we plan to share this program, free of charge, with anyone who is interested.  Because we are writing these assessment questions ourselves, we also welcome contributions to our databank of questions.  Future plans include producing a similar program for the wildly popular Palm-style computers.

Conclusions:  We will demonstrate a practical computer program for medical student self-assessment, and project that it will be useful in improving their knowledge of and interest in Psychiatry.  We also hope to begin a collaborative effort to develop a nationally available question databank.

 

 

 

Poster

Friday, June 13

10:15 – 10:45 a.m.

Explorers’ Room

 

 

Dimensions of First Year Medical Student

Religiosity and Correlation with Attitude

Towards Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences

W. Grady Carter M.D., M.Div.

Larry E. Robinson, D.Min.

Yashica Marshall, B.S.

Mercer University School of Medicine

 Macon, Georgia

       

 

Introduction:  Despite a growing interest in addressing religious and spiritual issues in the undergraduate medical curriculum relatively little is known about medical student religiosity, how it is affected by medical education, and how it correlates with medical students’ attitudes towards psychiatry and the behavioral sciences.  This poster presents initial, pilot data from a longitudinal project, which will follow medical students over the course of their medical education and assess these things.

Educational goals:

1.      To quantify key dimensions of medical student religiosity, specifically organizational religious practice, non-organizational religious practice, intrinsic religiosity, and religious coping.

2.      To assess medical students’ views of the role of  religion and spirituality in the medical school curriculum

3.      To assess medical students’ views of the role of  religion and spirituality in the practice of medicine

4.      To assess first year medical students’ attitudes towards psychiatry and the behavioral sciences

5.      To see if key dimensions of medical student religiosity correlate with students’ views of the role of  religion and spirituality in the medical school curriculum

6.      To see if key dimensions of medical student religiosity correlate with attitudes towards psychiatry and the behavioral sciences.

 

Description:  First year medical students at Mercer University School of Medicine were surveyed using the Duke University Religion Index, R-COPE (religious coping), Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale, Attitudes Towards Religion in Medicine Scale, ATP-30 (attitudes towards psychiatry), and Behavioral Medicine Questionnaire (attitudes towards behavioral science.)  The results of each survey will be quantified and the data will be analyzed for correlation between the various instruments.  Associations with age, sex, and choice of medical specialty will also be analyzed.  This group of medical students will be re-surveyed at the end of their second and fourth years of medical school to assess for change over the course of medical education.

 

Conclusion:  Relatively little is known about medical student religiosity and attitudes towards addressing religion and spirituality in the medical school curriculum.  This poster will present pilot results of an assessment of several dimensions of medical student religiosity and associations with attitudes towards psychiatry and the behavioral sciences.

 

 

 

Poster

Friday, June 13

10:15 – 10:45 a.m.

Explorers’ Room

 

 

Pre-Clinical Medical School Education:

The Patient Perspective

 

Lois E. Krahn, M.D.

Mayo Clinic

 

 

Educational goals:

1.      Participants will be aware of the degree of satisfaction and willingness to return that patients interviewed in a pre-clinical medical student course expressed.

2.      Participants will be aware of the multiple reasons that patients provided for participating in the medical student course, many of which revealed an altruistic desire to help students and health care institutions.

3.      Participants will be able to consider identifying a group of psychiatric outpatients willing to be involved with small group sessions in pre-clinical courses.

 

 

Purpose:  The purpose of this project is to understand why patients are willing to come in for appointments arranged purely for the sake of medical education. By understanding the patient perspective, we hope to better understand the nature of the experience for our students as well as develop means to recruit more patients as participants.

 

Introduction:  For over eight years Mayo Medical School has had a patient-oriented preclinical course called "Introduction to Psychopathology." The course includes 18 hours of lectures. The course was designed to incorporate active adult learning techniques and use a case method teaching style. Each day after an introductory lecture, the students break up into groups of 6-7 students where they interview patients. Each small group has the opportunity to interview 15 patients. The patients are recruited from the inpatient units as well as outpatient practice. In the past we have tried using standardized patients. However we found that when available, actual patients had several advantages over standardized patients'. Recruiting appropriate patients is a potential challenge. Outpatient participants are suggested to the education secretary by their psychiatrist or psychologist. The secretary contacts them and asks them if they would be willing to participate. The patients participate in two interviews an afternoon. The interviews are 30 minutes in length and followed by a 30-minute break during which time the small groups discuss the patient's interview. The patient is not present for the students' discussion. Patients are paid for their participation.

 

Method:  A six-question survey was mailed to all participating outpatients after the course. This study was approved by the Mayo IRB.

 

Results:  Surveys were sent to the 15 patients who participated in the 2002 course.  The mean age was 50 years (range 27-70) and 73% were women. Eleven patients responded (73%). The mean duration of participation was 3.5 years (range 1-8 years). Patients were highly satisfied with their experience (mean 4.7 on a 5-point scale with 5 highly satisfied, range 3-5). Their reasons for participating are listed in Table I. All would be willing to participate again.

 

TABLE I

MOTIVATION FOR PARTICIPATING

Desire to help students

100%

Opportunity to teach about their illness

91%

Wish to satisfy their psychiatrist

18%

Opportunity to meet students/teachers

73%

Enjoyable

64%

Financial Compensation

65%

Desire to support the institution

91%

 

Conclusions:  Patients who returned the survey expressed a high degree of satisfaction and a willingness to return next year. They provided multiple reasons for participating, many of which revealed an altruistic desire to help students and health care institutions. More medical schools could consider identifying a group of psychiatric outpatients willing to be involved with small group sessions in pre-clinical courses.

 

Reference:  Krahn LE, Bostwick JM, Sutor, B, Olsen MW. "The Challenge of Empathy: A Pilot Study Using Standardized Patients to Teach Introductory Psychopathology to Medical Students." Academic Psychiatry. 2002,26:26-30.

 

 

 

Poster

Friday, June 13

10:15 – 10:45 a.m.

Explorers’ Room

 

 

Patient Acceptance and Comfort Level Regarding

Medical Students in Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic

Tarak Vasavada, M.D.

Kristi O’Dell, Ph.D.

Rikki Smith, M.D.

University of Alabama

 

Educational goals:  To help participants to better prepare medical students for patient interaction by being aware of patient comfort and confidence about seeing medical students in an academic psychiatric outpatient clinic.

 

Method:  The authors developed a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed to patients waiting for an office visit with the psychiatrists who served as faculty for third year medical students in an academic institution.  The questionnaire asked patients about their comfort levels with having medical students present during their visits and their confidence in the abilities of medical students.

 

Results:  Ninety-nine patients completed the survey.  The majority was female (76%) and Caucasian (84%).  Twelve respondents were excluded due to missing data.  A majority of patients accepted students as student doctors in training; 36% of patients preferred to see physician only; and 41% preferred to see the physician only during first visit.  Patients were uncomfortable discussing sexual issues (49%), marital problems (30%), substance abuse issues (27%), and financial and legal issues (28%) with medical students.  Some patients felt that they had to repeat their stories.  Greater than 95% of patients rated students favorably in their skills and professionalism. 

 

Conclusions:  Although generalizations to all patients are limited by the sampling design of the study, the majority of patients are accepting of medical students in the academic psychiatry clinic.  Despite patient confidence in medical students’ abilities, a sizeable minority prefers to see the physician only.  This may be due in part to having to repeat their histories to multiple professionals.  Academic psychiatric physicians should prepare medical students for some patient discomfort in talking with them and particularly as regards more sensitive issues.

 

 

Plenary

Friday, June 13

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Explorers’ Room

 

ASSESSMENT, PART I:  MEASURING

ATTITUDES AND PERFORMANCE

 

Amy Brodkey, M.D., Chair

University of Pennsylvania

 

School-by-School Trends in Medical Student

Career Choice of Psychiatry, 1999-2001

 

Frederick S. Sierles, M.D.

Stephen H. Dinwiddie, M.D.

Delia Patroi, M.D.

Nutan Atre-Vaidya, M.D.

Michael J. Schrift, D.O.

John Woodard, M.D.

Finch University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School

 

Educational goals:  Participants will be able to summarize the factors that influence school-by-school trends in medical student career choice of psychiatry.

 

Introduction: The proportion of students matching into psychiatry (PMP) at each medical school results from a complex interplay between national and regional trends (extrinsic variables) and characteristics of each school, including the quality of its psychiatric education (intrinsic).  The authors ascertained which extrinsic factors are associated with school-by-school differences in PMP from 1999-01.

 

Methods: The authors obtained the PMP for each U.S. school (data for individual schools is confidential and will not be mentioned) from student affairs deans and the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP).  They obtained data about the independent variables from the AMA, the AAMC, the APA and Harvard’s HealthSystem Consortium.  Data were analyzed using SPSS 11.

 

Results:  The best predictor of a school’s PMP is its PMP from the prior year.  There were no significant associations between PMP and the school’s funding, tuition, clerkship length, having a psychiatrist dean, ethnic composition of the student body, admissions preference for students from rural areas or underserved minority populations or preferring primary care.  Findings about the association between PMP and local managed care penetration were surprising and initially counterintuitive.  There was a significant, low-magnitude inverse correlation between PMP and proportions of IMGs in the psychiatry residency.  PMP for geographic region has changed notably since 1991-92.

 

Conclusions:  Though national trends are currently conducive to medical students choosing psychiatry, individual departments cannot expect to be beneficiaries of good fortune in their students choosing psychiatry based on regional or school related “extrinsic” factors such as Southern location or public funding.  It is reasonable to infer, therefore, that departments wishing to improve their PMP must provide the resources in personnel and time to produce the best possible education programs.

 

Ple