Objective: The authors designed an intervention to reduce beginning medical students' stigmatization of people with chronic mental illness (CMI). Methods: Pre-clinical medical students visited a state psychiatric facility's "Living Museum," a combination patient art studio/display space, as the intervention. During the visit, students interacted…

Objective: The authors describe an interdisciplinary training experience developed for psychiatry residents and seminary students that assessed each group's beliefs and attitudes toward the other's profession. The training was designed to enhance awareness, positive attitudes, and interaction between the disciplines. Methods: From 2005 to 2008,…

Objective: To assure adequate treatment for patients with mental illness worldwide, medical schools must impart positive attitudes toward psychiatry. The authors examined the effect of culture on changes in attitudes toward psychiatry among medical students receiving the same psychiatry clerkship curriculum in two different countries. Methods: A…

Objectives: As physicians are being trained to adapt their practices to the needs and experience of patients, initiatives to standardize care have been gaining momentum. The resulting conflict can be addressed through a practice-based learning and improvement (PBL) program that develops competency in using treatment guidelines as decision aids and…

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…

Objective: This study aimed to explore the effect of medical education on students' attitudes toward psychiatry and psychiatric patients, and examined the usefulness of a new evaluation tool: the 6-item Psychiatric Experience, Attitudes, and Knowledge (PEAK-6). Method: Authors studied the attitudes of 116 medical students toward psychiatry…

Objective: Education about substance use disorders in medical schools and, subsequently, physicians' identification of and intervention in these diagnoses lag behind that of most other disabling disorders. To reduce barriers and improve access to education about this major public health concern, medical schools are increasingly adopting web-based…

Objectives: Medical students have been shown to have high levels of psychological distress, including self-stigmatization and unwillingness to seek care. The authors hypothesized that a student-led curriculum involving personal mental illness experience, given during the first-year neuroscience course, and titled "Mental Illness Among Us…

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…

Objective: Psychiatric rehabilitation is an evidence-based service with the goal of recovery for people with severe mental illness. Psychiatric residents should understand the services and learn the principles of psychiatric rehabilitation. This study assessed whether a 3-month rotation in a psychiatric rehabilitation center changes the competency…

Background: Various rates of alcoholism, drug abuse, mental illness, and suicide among physician have been reported, generally higher than those in the general population. Psychiatry residents, as other specializing physicians, seem to be prone to suffering them. The prevalence of psychological symptoms among psychiatry residents has not been…

Objective: The authors investigated whether curriculum change could produce improved performance, despite a reduction in clerkship length from 8 to 4 weeks. Methods: The exam performance of medical students completing a 4-week clerkship in psychiatry was compared to national data from the National Board of Medical Examiners' Psychiatry Subject…

Background: Reducing stigma associated with mental illness is an important aim of medical education, yet evidence indicates that medical students' attitudes toward patients with mental health problems deteriorate as they progress through medical school. Objectives: Authors examined medical students' attitudes to mental illness, as compared with…

Objective: The authors explored the process of implementing a medical student-initiated program designed to provide computerized mental health screening, referral, and education in a homeless shelter. Method: An educational program was designed to teach homeless shelter staff about psychiatric disorders and culturally-informed treatment…

Objective: The increasing frequency and societal cost of psychiatric disability underscore the need for accuracy in evaluating patients who seek disability benefits. The authors investigated senior psychiatric residents' experiences performing disability evaluations, their self-assessment of competence for this task, and whether they perceived a…