Preparing residents to practice integrated behavioral health care: Multi-site feasibility study of a competency-based...

Workforce development is essential for the dissemination of team-based integrated behavioral healthcare. There is limited literature on training family medicine residents to function within an integrated behavioral health (IBH) system. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility and value of an IBH competency-based curriculum for family medicine residents across multiple programs.

Residency programs were recruited using professional listservs and networks to test a competency-based, multi-modal curriculum for preparing residents to practice IBH in primary care. Faculty instructors who led the workshop were invited to complete semi-structured interviews to examine the feasibility and appropriateness of the curriculum. Interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify, analyze, and report patterns. Residents completed a survey of perceived IBH skill and knowledge before and after training. A paired-sample t-test was used to determine significant differences pre- and post-training.

All five instructors completed interviews. Results suggest IBH training is valuable. Instructors gave specific feedback on online modules, implementation flexibility, and adjusting faculty development to differing levels of experience. Nineteen of forty residents (48%) completed anonymous pre-, post-, and retrospective-training surveys. Residents reported an increase in competence after training.

The results of this pilot suggest that IBH training implementation is feasible, desirable, timely, and may improve resident ability to work on an IBH team. Training should accommodate variations in program structure and faculty expertise.