The teaching of case formulation in Canada

Prompted by the Council on Education and Professional Liaison of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the authors surveyed the program directors and senior residents of departments of psychiatry on the teaching of case formulation skills in Canada. The results showed that case formulation is taught formally in most departments and that students are expected to demonstrate these skills throughout their training. However, less than one-half of the teaching programs provide guidelines for case formulation. The residents, who expected case formulation skills to be assessed in the oral examinations of the Royal College, were unanimous in their view that the process should be standardized and that guidelines be provided. Both the program directors and the residents favoured a biopsychosocial format for recording case formulation, but they did not agree on the content of an ideal formulation.