Abstract
Objective
In the context of an educational program on schizophrenia for psychiatry trainees, this survey study analyzed associations between self-reported training adequacy, experience in providing patient care, and comfort level in performing schizophrenia-related clinical skills. The influence of the education on comfort level was also assessed for each skill.
Methods
Survey respondents were psychiatry residents and fellows who participated in a schizophrenia education program at an in-person workshop or through online videos recorded at the workshop. In a pre-program survey, participants reported their experience in providing schizophrenia patient care and rated their training adequacy and comfort level for performing seven clinical skills involved in diagnosing and treating schizophrenia. The post-program survey included items for reassessing comfort level in performing the skills.
Results
Across the seven clinical skills, the proportion of respondents (n = 79) who agreed or strongly agreed that their training was adequate ranged from 29 to 88 %. The proportion of high ratings for comfort level in skill performance ranged from 45 to 83 %. Comfort level was significantly associated with training adequacy for all seven clinical skills and with experience in providing patient care for four skills. For all skills, comfort level ratings were significantly higher after versus before the educational workshop. Commonly indicated needs for further training included education on new therapies, exposure to a broader range of patients, and opportunities for longitudinal patient management.
Conclusions
Psychiatry trainees’ self-reported, disease-specific training adequacy, experiences, and comfort level have unique applications for developing and evaluating graduate medical curriculum.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge Jeffrey Carter for contributing to the analysis of the project data.
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The study methods were reviewed by an independent institutional review board (Sterling IRB, Atlanta, GA; IRB ID# 5507), which granted exempt status.
Disclosures
The authors are employees of, or academic educators/consultants to, PRIME Education, Inc., a health care education company that received an independent continuing medical education (CME) grant from Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. and Lundbeck to conduct the educational program described in this article. Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. and Lundbeck had no role in the study design or execution, and the grant did not include support for conducting the surveys or writing this manuscript.
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Greene, L., Moreo, K., Nasrallah, H. et al. Self-Reported Training Adequacy, Experience, and Comfort Level in Performing Schizophrenia-Related Clinical Skills among Psychiatry Residents and Fellows. Acad Psychiatry 41, 497–502 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-016-0612-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-016-0612-1