Pediatric Resident Comfort in Mental Health Management Before and After an Integrated Clinic Rotation

Area of Science:

• Pediatric mental health
• Medical education
• Integrated care

Background:

• Pediatric residents often lack sufficient training in child mental health screening, assessment, and treatment.
• There is a critical need to enhance the capacity of primary care physicians to manage common pediatric mental health conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of an integrated mental health (IMH) rotation on pediatric residents' self-reported comfort levels.
• To evaluate comfort in screening, assessment, and treatment of child mental health issues before and after the IMH rotation.

Main Methods:

• Pediatric residents evaluated child mental health patients in their continuity clinics.
• Remote supervision was provided by a child psychiatrist.
• Residents self-rated comfort using a 5-point scale pre- and post-rotation.

Main Results:

• Baseline comfort in IMH care was low, particularly for treatment.
• Post-rotation, overall comfort in treatment significantly increased (3.3 vs. 2.8, p ≤ 0.003).
• Comfort in screening for ADHD, educating families, and initiating ADHD medication also significantly improved.

Conclusions:

• The IMH rotation effectively enhanced residents' comfort in managing pediatric mental health conditions.
• Remote supervision by child psychiatrists is a feasible model for broader implementation.
• This approach can help address the shortage of child mental health specialists.