Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Psychiatry’s Next Generation: Teaching College Students About Mental Health

  • Empirical Report
  • Published:
Academic Psychiatry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

The authors describe an integrated area of study for undergraduate college students that targets an increase in knowledge of mental health issues in children, adolescents, and emerging adults; encourages mental health service utilization on college campuses; and exposes young minds to the possibilities of working with children and adolescents in the mental health field.

Methods

An overview of the program is provided, including the resources required to oversee and manage the program, student requirements, a description of the role that clinicians and researchers play as the program faculty, and an explanation of the tuition model.

Results

The program currently includes 40 courses with an annual enrollment of over 3000 students, resulting in departmental revenues that currently exceed $11 million per year. Student evaluations of the courses are very positive, and in a program survey students reported that their participation in the program had a positive impact on their life (84.2 %) and impacted their career choice (60.2 %).

Conclusions

The benefits of the program include a valuable outreach to college students regarding the importance of seeking help for mental health issues, a positive influence on early career decision-making, opportunities for clinical and research educators to develop their scholarly areas of interest, and a significant source of departmental discretionary revenues.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

References

  1. Merikangas KR, He J-p, Burstein M, Swanson SA, Avenevoli S, Cui L. Lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in US adolescents: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication–Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatr. 2010;49(10):980–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, Jin R, Merikangas KR, Walters EE. Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. AGP. 2005;62(6):593–602.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Mowbray CT, Megivern D, Mandiberg JM, Strauss S, Stein CH, Collins K, et al. Campus mental health services: Recommendations for change. AJO. 2006.

  4. Pryor JH, Hurtado S, DeAngelo L, Palucki Blake L, Tran S. The American freshman: national norms fall 2010. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA; 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  5. ACHA. American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II: undergraduate reference group executive summary spring 2012. Hanover: American College Health Association; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Gallagher RP. Thirty years of the National Survey of Counseling Center Directors: a personal account. J Coll Stud Psychother. 2012;26(3):172–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gallagher RP. National survey of counseling center directors. Alexandria: International Association of Counseling Services; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Blanco C, Okuda M, Wright C, Hasin DS, Grant BF, Liu S-M, et al. Mental health of college students and their non-college-attending peers: results from the national epidemiologic study on alcohol and related conditions. AGP. 2008;65(12):1429–37.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Zivin K, Eisenberg D, Gollust SE, Golberstein E. Persistence of mental health problems and needs in a college student population. J Affect Disord. 2009;117(3):180–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Eisenberg D, Golberstein E, Hunt JB. Mental health and academic success in college. The BE J Econ Anal Policy. 2009; 9(1).

  11. Hunt J, Eisenberg D. Mental health problems and help-seeking behavior among college students. J Adolesc Health. 2010;46(1):3–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Merikangas KR, He J-p, Burstein M, Swendsen J, Avenevoli S, Case B. Service utilization for lifetime mental disorders in US adolescents: results of the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatr. 2011;50(1):32–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Merikangas KR, He J-P, Brody D, Fisher PW, Bourdon K, Koretz DS. Prevalence and treatment of mental disorders among US children in the 2001–2004 NHANES. Pediatrics. 2010;125(1):75–81.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Mackenzie CS, Erickson J, Deane FP, Wright M. Changes in attitudes toward seeking mental health services: a 40-year cross-temporal meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2014;34(2):99–106.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Eisenberg D, Hunt J, Speer N. Help seeking for mental health on college campuses: review of evidence and next steps for research and practice. Harvard Rev Psychiatr. 2012;20(4):222–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Fox GS, Stock S, Briscoe GW, Beck GL, Horton R, Hunt JI, et al. Improving child and adolescent psychiatry education for medical students: an inter-organizational collaborative action plan. Acad Psychiatr. 2012;36(6):461–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Kim WJ. Child and adolescent psychiatry workforce: a critical shortage and national challenge. Acad Psychiatr. 2003;27(4):277–82.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. ACGME. List of ACGME accredited programs and sponsoring institutions 2014 [cited 2014 July 1]. Available from: https:/http://www.acgme.org.

  19. NRMP. National resident matching program results and data: specialties matching service. Washington, DC: NRMP; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  20. NRMP. National resident matching program results and data: specialties matching service. Washington, DC: NRMP; 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Shatkin JP, Koplewicz HS. The child and adolescent mental health studies (CAMS) minor at New York University. Acad Psychiatr. 2008;32(5):438–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Krous T, Nauta MM. Values, motivations, and learning experiences of future professionals: who wants to serve underserved populations? Prof Psychol Res Practice. 2005;36(6):688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Malhi GS, Coulston CM, Parker GB, Cashman E, Walter G, Lampe LA, et al. Who picks psychiatry? Perceptions, preferences and personality of medical students. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2011;45(10):861–70.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Nolan SA, Pace KA, Iannelli RJ, Palma TV, Pakalns GP. A simple and effective program to increase faculty knowledge of and referrals to counseling centers. J Coll Couns. 2006;9(2):167–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Mitchell SL, Darrow SA, Haggerty M, Neill T, Carvalho A, Uschold C. Curriculum infusion as college student mental health promotion strategy. J Coll Stud Psychother. 2012;26(1):22–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Becker M, Martin L, Wajeeh E, Ward J, Shern D. Students with mental illnesses in a university setting: faculty and student attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and experiences. Psychiatr Rehab J. 2002;25(4):359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Schlozman SC, Beresin EV. Frustration and opportunity: teaching child and adolescent psychiatry throughout medical education. Acad Psychiatr. 2010;34:172–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Braslow KJ, Feeney DJ, Elliott GR, Matthews KL, Bush AC. Improving recruitment and funding in psychiatry by teaching college undergraduates. Acad Psychiatr. 2005;29(5):459–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Digest of education statistics: 2012 [Internet]. Institute of Education Sciences. 2012. Available from: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/index.asp.

Download references

Disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Jess P. Shatkin & Ursula Diamond

Authors
  1. Jess P. Shatkin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ursula Diamond
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jess P. Shatkin.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shatkin, J.P., Diamond, U. Psychiatry’s Next Generation: Teaching College Students About Mental Health. Acad Psychiatry 39, 527–532 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-015-0305-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-015-0305-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation