title: Psychopharmacology Prescribing Workshops: A Novel Method for Teaching Psychiatry Residents How to Talk to Patients About Medications.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Traditional, lecture-based methods of teaching pharmacology may not translate into the skills needed to communicate effectively with patients about medications. In response, the authors developed an interactive course for third-year psychiatry residents to reinforce prescribing skills.
  
  
  METHODS
  Residents participate in a facilitated group discussion combined with a role-play exercise where they mock-prescribe medication to their peers. Each session is focused on one medication or class of medications with an emphasis on various aspects of informed consent (such as describing the indication, dosing, expected benefits, potential side effects, and necessary work-up and follow up). In the process of implementing the course at a second site, the original format was modified to include self-assessment measures and video examples of experienced faculty members prescribing to a simulated patient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The course was initially developed at one site and has since been disseminated to a number of other institutions. Between 2010 and 2016, 144 residents participated in the course at the authors' two institutions. Based upon pre/post surveys conducted with a subset of residents, the course significantly improved comfort with various aspects of prescribing. Although residents may also gain comfort in prescribing with experience (as the course coincides with the major outpatient clinical training year), improvement in comfort-level was also noted for medications that residents had relatively little experience initiating. At the end of the year, half of the residents indicated the course was one of their top three preferred methods for learning psychopharmacology in addition to direct clinical experience and supervision (with none listing didactics).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An interactive prescribing workshop can improve resident comfort with prescribing and may be preferred over a traditional, lecture-based approach. The course may be particularly helpful for those medications that are less commonly used. Based upon our experience, this approach can be easily implemented across institutions..
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. kavanag@nyspi.columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Eileen P
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1109-0585
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Kavanagh
authors.affiliation: Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cahill
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Arbuckle
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Alison E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Lenet
authors.affiliation: Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Kalyani
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Subramanyam
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Ronald M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Winchel
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Ilana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nossel
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: DeSilva
authors.affiliation: New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Rachel A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Caravella
authors.affiliation: New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Marra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ackerman
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Henry C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D058015:Health Communication / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011600:Psychopharmacology / Q000193:education*
keywords: Psychopharmacology; Residents; Teaching methods