title: Addressing mental health issues in primary care: an initial curriculum for medical residents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many express concern that modern medicine fails to provide adequate psychosocial and mental health care. Our educational system has not trained the primary care providers who care for most of these patients. Our objective here is to propose a quantum change: prepare residents and students during all years of training so that they are as effective in treating psychosocial and mental health issues as they are medical problems.
  
  
  METHODS
  We operationalize this objective, following Kern, by developing an intensive 3-year curriculum in psychosocial and mental health care for medical residents based on models with a strong evidence-base.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We report an intensive curriculum that can guide others with similar training interests and also initiate the conversation about how best to prepare residency graduates to provide effective mental health and psychosocial care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Identifying specific curricula informs education policy-makers of the specific requirements they will need to meet if psychosocial and mental health training are to improve.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Training residents in mental health will lead to improved care for this very prevalent primary care population.
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Department of Medicine, East Lansing, USA; Michigan State University Colleges of Human and Osteopathic Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, East Lansing, USA. Electronic address: robert.smith@ht.msu.edu.
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Department of Medicine, East Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Laird-Fick
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University Colleges of Human and Osteopathic Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, East Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: D'Mello
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Department of Medicine, East Lansing, USA; Michigan State University Colleges of Human and Osteopathic Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, East Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: Francesca C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Dwamena
authors.affiliation: EW Sparrow Hospital, Department of Family Medicine, Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romain
authors.affiliation: EW Sparrow Hospital, Department of Family Medicine, Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.affiliation: EW Sparrow Hospital, Department of Family Medicine, Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kent
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University Colleges of Human and Osteopathic Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, East Lansing, USA; Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, East Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blackman
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Department of Medicine, East Lansing, USA; Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Office of Medical Education Research and Development, East Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Department of Medicine, Grand Rapids, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spoolstra
authors.affiliation: Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, New Haven, USA.
authors.forename: Auguste H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Fortin
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University Colleges of Human and Osteopathic Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, East Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffery
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Department of Medicine, East Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferenchick
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Department of Medicine, East Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Freilich
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Department of Medicine, East Lansing, USA.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meerschaert
authors.affiliation: Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Indianapolis, USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frankel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001524:Behavioral Medicine / Q000193:education; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D058006:General Practice / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008603:Mental Health; D017145:Models, Educational; D011320:Primary Health Care
keywords: Biopsychosocial training; Curriculum; Mental health training; Residents