Panel Discussion 6 - Enhancing Psychiatry Trainees Psychotherapy Education Using a Developmental Education Model with Psychologist Educators

Psychiatrists are required to have expertise across a variety of medical and psychological domains, including the intersection of medication management and psychotherapy. While psychiatrists view psychotherapy training as integral to their development, research shows dissatisfaction with the quality of training they receive. Given their expertise in theory and application of psychotherapy, clinical psychologists have the capability to address these limitations with deliberate, coordinated, and developmental curricula. Their expertise enhances the goal of training strong future psychiatrists while meeting the training requirements set forth by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), which stipulates competency in cognitive-behavioral therapy. The current session will feature a developmental education model emphasizing the integration of evidence-based treatments such as CBT, DBT, and CBT for psychosis in didactic curricula, clinical application, and supervision across training years in our psychiatry residency and fellowship training programs. Our team of psychologist educators will focus on practical strategies to build opportunities to enhance learning and engagement across each year of residency training. After reviewing general education models for PGY1-PGY4, we will discuss two unique opportunities to enhance specialized psychotherapy education, including in the 1) Healing and Optimizing Psychotic Experiences clinic and the 2) child psychiatry fellowship program, which includes the opportunity to participate in an adolescent intensive outpatient program. For each training opportunity, we will highlight barriers and provide strategies to increase contact with theoretical models of psychotherapy and how to practically apply skills in residents' current rotations. The session will demonstrate the importance of interdisciplinary, coordinated educational efforts that are responsive to learners needs, and will highlight direct feedback received from residents on efforts to enhance psychotherapy training. Further, we will include strategies to objectively measure psychotherapy competencies to align with ACGME requirements.