Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry
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International medical graduates (IMGs) account for a significant proportion of residents in psychiatric training in the United States. Many IMGs may have previously completed psychiatry residency training in other countries. Their experiences may improve our system. Authors compared and contrasted psychiatry residency training in the U.S. to that of Canada, the United Kingdom, India, and Nigeria. The study also highlights the systems-based features that may have an impact on the adaptation of IMGs (especially previously-trained) to U.S. psychiatry residency. ⋯ The provision of services and training is substantially influenced by national mental health policies, culture, and local traditions. Despite numerous commonalities, there are some differences in psychiatry training among all five countries. Awareness of these differences in education, systems, and interactions may help psychiatric educators to understand IMGs (especially those previously-trained) as they adapt to U.S. training.
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Psychiatric educators are often faced with students' negative attitudes toward psychiatry. A new type of seminar has been established in order to enable students to gain a deeper understanding of psychiatric illness. ⋯ From the students' perspective, this type of seminar seems to be helpful for providing an impression of psychiatric illnesses and enabling students to put themselves in the position of a person suffering from these illnesses. Therefore, we judged the cinemeducation seminar to be an appropriate teaching format in undergraduate medical education.
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The purpose of the study was to explore changes in medical students' attitudes toward homeless persons during the Psychiatry and Emergency Medicine clerkships. Simultaneously, this study explored attitudes toward homeless persons held by Psychiatry and Emergency Medicine residents and faculty in an attempt to uncover the "hidden curriculum" in medical education, in which values are communicated from teacher to student outside of the formal instruction. ⋯ Results suggest that medical students showed small differences in their attitudes toward homeless people following clerkships in Psychiatry but not in Emergency Medicine. Regarding resident and faculty results, significant differences between specialties were noted, with Psychiatry residents and faculty exhibiting more favorable attitudes toward homeless persons than residents and faculty in Emergency Medicine. Given that medical student competencies should be addressing the broader social issues of homelessness, medical schools need to first understand the attitudes of medical students to such issues, and then develop curricula to overcome inaccurate or stigmatizing beliefs.