Academic Psychiatry最新文献

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe medical students' learning styles and locus of control (LOC) and to determine their association with academic achievement.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed at a health science university in Saudi Arabia. A sample of 158 medical students completed Kolb's learning style and locus of control scales. The authors measured academic achievement by grade point average (GPA) and collected demographic characteristics.

Results: Most students' learning styles were classified as convergent (51.3%), whereas the rest adopted divergent (23.4%), accommodative (18.4%), and assimilative (7%) styles. Analysis revealed that students with a lower LOC tend to have higher GPAs than those with a higher LOC. However, no association was found between Kolb's learning styles and LOC or GPA.

Conclusions: The findings of this study provide educators with essential insights into factors that enhance students' academic achievements. We conclude that locus of control plays a crucial role in academic success. Medical educators should consider diverse student learning styles to adopt appropriate teaching methods that meet students' needs, ultimately improving educational practices and outcomes in medical education.

Objective: Given mental health workforce shortages, academic psychiatry departments have a compelling interest in developing pipeline programs. This article examines a pilot program for high school students within an academic psychiatry department, assessing whether it successfully informs students about mental health career options and increases their interest in them.

Methods: The authors recruited all program participants in 2022 and 2023 during data collection. The program served as an intervention, teaching participants about mental health career options, clinical practice, and client experiences via presentations from psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. Participants completed a pretest at the start of the two-week program and a posttest at the end. On both the pretest and posttest, participants rated their agreement with 22 statements relating to mental health career knowledge, attitudes, and interest. The authors analyzed the data using dependent means t tests.

Results: The program increased participants' knowledge of the roles and paths to pursuing different mental health careers. It also increased participants' belief that they could pursue a mental health career. The program improved some but not all measured attitudes toward mental health and mental health careers. In 2023, the program increased participants' likelihood of pursuing a mental health career.

Conclusions: A pipeline program for underserved high school students delivered by an academic psychiatry department is feasible, and it was effective in changing attitudes and increasing the likelihood of pursuing a mental health career.

Objectives: Hands-on de-escalation training has been recommended for patient-facing emergency department staff by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Additionally, simulation-based learning has been shown to be effective at improving staff knowledge and management of agitated patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a multidisciplinary education session on staff knowledge and confidence in verbal de-escalation and violent restraint use, in the clinical environment in an urban emergency department.

Methods: A 90-min mixed didactic and standardized patient encounter educational course with formal debriefing was developed. Learners included nurses, patient support associates, paramedics, and protective services officers from an urban emergency department. Data was obtained from standardized surveys. Lastly, changes to the clinical environment that occurred because of the educational intervention were captured.

Results: A total of 117/136 emergency department staff members (86%) completed the de-escalation training. Improved confidence (> 90% agree/strongly agree) in all learning objectives was reported immediately after training and maintained after 6 months. Additionally, the rate of violent restraint use trended down after intervention. Multiple hospital policies, including alterations to physical environment, arrival process, and communication, were enacted as a result of staff feedback during the education.

Conclusion: A multidisciplinary simulation-based educational course was successful in improving learner confidence in management and de-escalation of agitated patients. This education also led to changes in the clinical environment within the emergency department.