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A Survey of American Psychiatric Residency Programs Concerning Education in Homelessness

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Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to document how psychiatric residencies address homelessness and mental illness, to discover training barriers, and to identify educational recommendations. Methods: The authors mailed a survey to 178 American psychiatric residency programs, requesting information about didactic and clinical offerings in homelessness. Programs without offerings were asked to provide reasons why. Results: Of 106 responses, 60% had educational offerings. Concerning clinical experiences, most had fewer than 20% of residents rotating, and only 11% had mandatory rotations. Programs without offerings usually noted that training in this area was a low priority, and this was most frequently linked with perceived low community homelessness prevalence. Conclusion: Psychiatric residency programs have addressed education in mental illness and homelessness in various ways. That there were few residents in clinical rotations suggests a need to explore causes, including funding problems, and whether there is sufficient academic community psychiatry faculty. The findings also evoke the need for a model curriculum that enables clinical competency in this public health problem.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

    Hunter L. McQuistion M.D. (Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Faculty, Fellowship in Public Psychiatry, Chief Medical Officer)

  2. New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, USA

    Hunter L. McQuistion M.D. (Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Faculty, Fellowship in Public Psychiatry, Chief Medical Officer)

  3. Division of Mental Hygiene, The City of New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 93 Worth St., New York, New York, 10013, USA

    Hunter L. McQuistion M.D. (Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Faculty, Fellowship in Public Psychiatry, Chief Medical Officer)

  4. New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, USA

    Jules M. Ranz M.D. (Director, Fellowship in Public Psychiatry, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry)

  5. College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

    Jules M. Ranz M.D. (Director, Fellowship in Public Psychiatry, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry)

  6. Division of Rural Psychiatry, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA

    Paulette Marie Gillig M.D., Ph.D. (Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Chief Clinical Officer)

  7. Mental Health, Drug, and Alcohol Services Board for Logan County and Champaign County in Ohio, Akron, USA

    Paulette Marie Gillig M.D., Ph.D. (Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Chief Clinical Officer)

Authors
  1. Hunter L. McQuistion M.D.
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  2. Jules M. Ranz M.D.
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  3. Paulette Marie Gillig M.D., Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hunter L. McQuistion M.D..

Additional information

The authors thank Susan Deakins, M.D., and members of the APA Committee on Poverty, Homelessness, and Psychiatric Disorders (Drs. Ariel Dalfen, Joel Feiner, Leslie Horton, Rajendra Morey, Raman Patel, and Manoj Shah) for their help in developing the survey instrument and also thank Edwin Morales for his assistance in transmitting the survey and collating results.

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McQuistion, H.L., Ranz, J.M. & Gillig, P.M. A Survey of American Psychiatric Residency Programs Concerning Education in Homelessness. Acad Psychiatry 28, 116–121 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.28.2.116

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.28.2.116

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