Implementation and Evaluation of Educational Workshops to Increase Primary Care Provider and Medical Student Comfort in Psychiatric Care.

OBJECTIVE: Mental health treatment is often initiated in primary care settings, but many primary care providers (PCPs), residents, and medical students report discomfort in managing psychiatric conditions. This study evaluated the effect of an educational workshop that featured an evidence-based psychopharmacology clinical decision support tool (CDST) on trainee confidence and willingness to treat psychiatric conditions.

METHODS: Participants completed pre- and post-workshop surveys. Nine months after the workshop, a subset of trainees participated in a focus group.

RESULTS: Of the participants, 62.5% of the obstetrics-gynecology (OB-GYN) resident physicians (10/16) and 100% of the medical students (18/18) completed both pre- and post-surveys. Following the workshop, OB-GYN resident physicians reported significantly improved confidence in treating psychiatric disorders (p < 0.001), sense of having psychiatric support tools (p < 0.001), and knowledge of treating psychiatric disorders (p = 0.021). Medical students reported significantly improved confidence in treating psychiatric disorders (p < 0.001), willingness to devise treatment plans for psychiatric disorders (p = 0.024), sense of having psychiatric support tools (p < 0.001), knowledge of treating psychiatric disorders (p < 0.001), and comfort in presenting a psychiatric treatment plan to an attending (p = 0.003). Most focus group participants (93.75%; 15/16) reported that they continued to use the CDST, and it increased their confidence in formulating psychiatric treatment plans.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that educational workshops that introduce high-quality psychopharmacology CDSTs may be an effective method for improving provider comfort in treating psychiatric disorders.