Abstract
Objective
Traditional, lecture-based methods of teaching pharmacology may not translate into the skills needed to communicate effectively with patients about medications. In response, the authors developed an interactive course for third-year psychiatry residents to reinforce prescribing skills.
Methods
Residents participate in a facilitated group discussion combined with a role-play exercise where they mock-prescribe medication to their peers. Each session is focused on one medication or class of medications with an emphasis on various aspects of informed consent (such as describing the indication, dosing, expected benefits, potential side effects, and necessary work-up and follow up). In the process of implementing the course at a second site, the original format was modified to include self-assessment measures and video examples of experienced faculty members prescribing to a simulated patient.
Results
The course was initially developed at one site and has since been disseminated to a number of other institutions. Between 2010 and 2016, 144 residents participated in the course at the authors’ two institutions. Based upon pre/post surveys conducted with a subset of residents, the course significantly improved comfort with various aspects of prescribing. Although residents may also gain comfort in prescribing with experience (as the course coincides with the major outpatient clinical training year), improvement in comfort-level was also noted for medications that residents had relatively little experience initiating. At the end of the year, half of the residents indicated the course was one of their top three preferred methods for learning psychopharmacology in addition to direct clinical experience and supervision (with none listing didactics).
Conclusion
An interactive prescribing workshop can improve resident comfort with prescribing and may be preferred over a traditional, lecture-based approach. The course may be particularly helpful for those medications that are less commonly used. Based upon our experience, this approach can be easily implemented across institutions..
References
Glick ID, Zisook S. The challenge of teaching psychopharmacology in the new millennium: the role of curricula. Acad Psychiatry. 2005;29(2):134–40.
Glick ID, Salzman C, Cohen BM, Klein DF, Moutier C, Nasrallah HA, et al. Improving the pedagogy associated with the teaching of psychopharmacology. Acad Psychiatry. 2007;31(3):211–7.
Salzman C. The limited role of expert guidelines in teaching psychopharmacology. Acad Psychiatry. 2005;29(2):176–9.
Mintz DL. Teaching the prescriber’s role: the psychology of psychopharmacology. Acad Psychiatry. 2005;29(2):187–94.
Mallo C, Mintz DL, Lewis KC. Integrating psychosocial concepts into psychopharmacology training: a survey study of program directors and chief residents. Psychodyn Psychiatry. 2014;42(2):243–54.
Dubovsky SL. Who is teaching psychopharmacology? Who should be teaching psychopharmacology? Acad Psychiatry. 2005;29(2):155–61.
Salzman C, Glick ID. Teaching the teachers of clinical psychopharmacology. Acad Psychiatry. 2015;29(4):475–81.
Zisook S, Balon R, Benjamin S, Beresin E, Goldberg DA, Jibson MD, et al. Psychopharmacology curriculum field test. Acad Psychiatry. 2009;33(5):358–63.
Zisook S, Benjamin S, Balon R, Glick I, Louie A, Moutier C, et al. Alternate methods of teaching psychopharmacology. Acad Psychiatry. 2005;29(2):141–54.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. The Psychiatry Milestone Project. July 2015. https://acgme.org/acgmeweb/Portals/0/PDFs/Milestones/PsychiatryMilestones.pdf. Accessed 21 Nov 2016.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Disclosures
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kavanagh, E.P., Cahill, J., Arbuckle, M.R. et al. Psychopharmacology Prescribing Workshops: A Novel Method for Teaching Psychiatry Residents How to Talk to Patients About Medications. Acad Psychiatry 41, 491–496 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-017-0662-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-017-0662-z