Psychosomatics
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Quality of health care services can be improved by promoting patient- and family-centered care informed by patient and family satisfaction with services delivered. Few studies have been conducted looking at satisfaction with psychiatric consultation services within an inpatient pediatric hospital setting. ⋯ This quality improvement project underscores the importance of having psychiatry consultants convey their clinical impressions and recommendations, communicate effectively, and provide helpful interventions to parents and young adults in the pediatric hospital. It serves as an initial step responding to national consumers' demand for higher levels of quality and service and will provide guidance in future design and implementation of more comprehensive quality improvement projects.
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Although required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, training of general psychiatry residents in Psychosomatic Medicine (PM) varies significantly between programs. In 1996, the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine (APM) developed guidelines for residency training in PM. Since then, there has been no assessment of the status of PM training during psychiatry residency. ⋯ There is significant variation in how residents are taught PM during their training. The APM is a well-recognized organization that may define what constitutes adequate residency training in PM and may help programs fulfill the educational needs of residents.