Implementation of a Psychiatry Capstone Course for Fourth Year Medical Students

• Published in: Academic psychiatry Vol. 46; no. 6; pp. 759 - 762
• Main Authors: Ryznar, Elizabeth, Khandai, Abhisek, Taylor, Adrienne D., Lloyd, R. Brett
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-12-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult learning; Burnout; Capstone Experiences; Core curriculum; Didacticism; Educational Case Report; Emergency medical care; Graduate Medical Education; Medical Education; Medical schools; Medical students; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Patients; Problem based learning; Psychiatry; Risk assessment; Skills; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Teaching Skills
• ISSN: 1042-9670; 1545-7230
• DOI: 10.1007/s40596-021-01576-y

Residency program directors have observed a gap between expected skills and actual abilities at the start of residency [1]. Program Development The capstone course at our institution is a two-week rotation required of all fourth year medical students with the goal of developing skills expected of any first year resident physician in the initial months of training. Targeted needs assessment with medical students Anticipated challenges in the transition Important skills to refine during post-graduate year (PGY) 1 Managing agitated or acutely psychotic patients Managing psychiatric emergencies and de-escalation Assuming the role of primary physician for a patient Assessing decisional capacity Adjusting to a new city, hospital culture Performing suicide risk assessments and involuntary commitment Maintaining appropriate boundaries Differentiating mood and personality disorders Managing a bad outcome or error Understanding state laws Building confidence around clinical decisions Managing time efficiently Addressing strong emotional responses to patients Improving knowledge of psychopharmacology We then developed four major didactic sessions based on these chosen topics. Each of the seven items reflecting the course objectives were rated as a significant increase (p < 0.05) in perceived ability by the medical students after the capstone course (Table 2).