Abstract
Objective
The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies (CAMS) program is housed in a Liberal Arts undergraduate college of a large research university. Psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and social workers at the university’s medical center teach the courses. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extent to which CAMS encourages graduates of the program to pursue a career in child and adolescent mental health (CAMH).
Methods
In 2015–2016, graduates of the CAMS program were invited to participate in a mixed methods study. In addition to statistical analyses, qualitative thematic analyses were performed to interpret free-text responses.
Results
Forty-five percent (314/702) of invited graduates completed the online survey. Interviews were conducted with 11% (34/314) of participants by study staff over the phone. Quantitative results suggested that 81% (149/185) of participants enrolled in educational programs after graduation due to an interest in CAMH. A significantly higher proportion of the total sample (t = 3.661, p < .001) reported that they changed their career goals while undergraduate students compared to those who did so after graduation. Results of qualitative interviews with 34 participants uncovered five key themes unique to CAMS that may explain the program’s influence on graduates’ career choices and career development: practitioners-as-instructors, instructor mentorship, novel course content, experiential learning opportunities, and career training and skills.
Conclusions
Quantitative and qualitative results indicated that teaching college undergraduate students about CAMH encourages them to set career goals within the field. These findings suggest the utility of implementing similar programs at other undergraduate colleges.
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This study complied with ethical standards set by the Institutional Review Board.
Ethical Considerations
The NYU Langone Medical Center’s Institutional Review Board approved this study on 10/7/2015 as complying with ethical standards for human subjects research (Protocol Reference Number: i15-00797). The safeguards in place for this minimal risk study were limited to proper consent and protection of data through the use of de-identification.
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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
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Departmental funds.
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Diamond, U., Di Bartolo, C.A., Badin, E. et al. Almost Psychiatry: The Impact of Teaching Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies to Undergraduate College Students. Acad Psychiatry 41, 574–581 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-017-0680-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-017-0680-x