Family skills for general psychiatry residents: meeting ACGME core competency requirements

The authors discuss the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed for a resident to be competent in supporting and working with families, as mandated by the residency review committee (RRC) core competencies.

The RRC core competencies, as they relate to patients and their families, are reviewed. The Group for Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP) presents an operational version of these core competencies.

Methods of assessment, challenges in teaching, and ways of overcoming programmatic constraints are outlined. Examples of training programs that offer ways of integrating the teaching of family skills into existing programs are described.

The implications of the current RRC core competency requirements pertaining to families have the potential to change the training environment substantially. The GAP Family Committee proposes recommendations to facilitate the training of residents in family skills.