Clinical Neuroscience Education in Psychiatry Residency Training: Where Do We Go from Here?

The growing body of clinical neuroscience knowledge is transforming the psychiatry field. Today's psychiatrists must have strong command of clinical neuroscience and its applications to clinical practice. Over the past few decades, increased emphasis has been placed on clinical neuroscience education for psychiatrists and psychiatric trainees; residency training serves as a primary avenue for such educational intervention. These efforts, however, have been met with varying beliefs, attitudes, and responses. In this perspective, we examine the existing literature on clinical neuroscience education in North American psychiatry residency training programs as reported by department chairs, program directors, practicing psychiatrists, and trainees. We note key challenges, including perceived lack of clinical relevance in teaching, insufficient integration of clinical neuroscience education into residency training, and a shortage of specialized faculty educators. We summarize existing efforts to address these challenges, then propose future directions that may further advance clinical neuroscience education in psychiatric residency training. Such propositions include further developing longitudinal and integrated curricula, tailoring teaching for diverse learner and institutional needs, incorporating effective teaching methods, and continually collaborating across parties of interest.