When compared to one another, multiple informants' reports of adolescent internalizing problems often reveal low convergence. This creates challenges in the delivery of clinical services, particularly for severe outcomes linked to internalizing problems, namely suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Clinicians would benefit from methods that facilitate…

Objective: This article examines the benefit and feasibility of introducing a new, simulation-based learning intervention for junior psychiatry residents. Method: Junior psychiatry residents were invited to participate in a new simulation-based learning intervention focusing on agitated patients. Questionnaires were used to explore the success of…

Objective: Although it is widely acknowledged that second-generation antipsychotics are associated with cardiometabolic side effects, rates of metabolic screening have remained low. The authors created a quality-improvement (QI) intervention in an academic medical center outpatient psychiatry resident clinic with the aim of improving rates of…

Objectives: Patient suicide is a tragic occurrence, and it can be a demoralizing experience for medical residents. Few studies, however, have assessed suicide management skills among these front-line healthcare professionals. This study evaluated the self-assessed competence and confidence of medical residents with regard to the management of…

Objective: Effective communication between physicians and their patients is important in optimizing patient care. This project tested a brief, intensive, interactive medical education intervention using coaching and standardized psychiatric patients to teach physician-patient communication to family medicine trainees. Methods: Twenty-six family…

Objective: Effective communication strategies are required to assess suicide risk. The authors determined whether a 2-hour simulated-patient activity during a psychiatry clerkship improved self-assessment of medical interviewing skills relevant to suicide risk-assessment. Methods: In the 2-hour simulated-patient intervention, at least one…

Objective: The author describes the results of a reflection exercise for psychiatry clerkship students. Method: The author performed a qualitative analysis on 100 "reflection" papers written by medical students in their psychiatry clerkship and identified the most prominent thematic content. Results: The most common thematic content involved…

The authors sought to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of initiating a Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for alcohol and other drug use curriculum across multiple residency programs. SBIRT project faculty in the internal medicine (traditional, primary care internal medicine, medicine/pediatrics),…

Objective: The authors examine the efficacy of a brief presentation to enhance clerkship student interest in child and adolescent psychiatry as a career choice. Method: Attitudes of students attending a brief presentation on the positive aspects of child psychiatry were compared with those of non-attenders. Results: Students who attended the…

Objective: According to APA treatment recommendations, psychiatrists should assess and intervene in tobacco use with all of their patients who smoke. The ease with which this occurs may vary by treatment model. This study examined perspectives in residency training to identify a framework for addressing nicotine dependence within psychodynamic…

Objective: Several conspiring factors have resulted in an increase in the level of medical burden in psychiatric patients. Psychiatry residents require increasing levels of medical sophistication. To assess the medical decision-making of psychiatry residents, the authors examined the outcome in subjects initially seen in the emergency psychiatric…

Objective: To describe child- and family-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (CFF-CBT), a new developmentally sensitive psychosocial intervention for pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) that is intended for use along with medication. CFF-CBT integrates principles of family-focused therapy with those of CBT. The theoretical framework is based on (1)…

Objective: Outbreak investigations are challenging in a cross-cultural context, and outbreaks of psychiatric disease are rare in any community. We investigated a cluster of unexplained debilitating illness among Amish girls. Method: We reviewed the medical records of cases, consulted with health care providers, performed active case finding,…

Objective: Aggression is common in children and adolescents admitted to psychiatric inpatient units. Few interventions for reducing aggressive behaviors have been identified. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a milieu-based behavioral management program on the frequency of aggressive behaviors in a child and adolescent mental health…

Objective: This report describes an educational intervention designed to improve psychiatry residents' inpatient charting skills. Methods: The residency training committee formed a multidisciplinary team to study the problem by using quality improvement principles. The team hypothesized that residents' charting would improve with education about…