Emergency psychiatry training for third-year medical students as reported by directors of medical student education in psychiatry.

摘要

Background: Physicians can expect to confront a variety of psychiatric emergencies during their careers. However, medical schools are not required to teach emergency psychiatry and little is known about the content of existing instruction. Purposes: We conducted this survey to better understand the emergency psychiatry experiences provided to 3rd-year medical students. Methods: Directors of medical student education in psychiatry at U.S. medical schools were mailed a 1-page questionnaire about their school's instruction in emergency psychiatry. Results: We received 74 responses from the 122 U.S. medical schools (61%). All but 4 reported emergency psychiatry instruction. The number of hours and type of settings students were on-call varied greatly from school to school, as did the scope of faculty supervision. Conclusions: Most schools provide emergency psychiatry instruction, but methods vary among institutions. Given its importance, medical schools should work to provide uniformity in the way emergency psychiatry is taught.