Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVE: Mentorship is an important component of graduate education. This study assessed the perceptions of general psychiatry chief residents regarding the adequacy of mentorship provided during training. METHODS: The authors surveyed 229 chief residents participating in the APA National Chief Residents Leadership Program in 2004 and 2005. The survey assessed domains such as work hours, didactics, home and family life, and mentorship. RESULTS: Of the chief psychiatric residents surveyed, 49% reported that they did not have a clearly defined career development mentor, and 39% reported that they did not feel adequately mentored. Gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, moonlighting, medical school (American versus international), and type of residency program (academic versus community based) did not show significant association with either 'having a clearly defined mentor' or 'feeling adequately mentored,' based on chi-squared tests for independence. Chief residents who had authored peer-reviewed publications were significantly more likely to report having a clearly defined mentor and to feel adequately mentored than those who did not author publications. Logistic regression analysis showed that having a clearly defined mentor was associated with twice the odds for feeling well prepared to practice psychiatry upon graduation compared with those who did not have a clearly defined mentor, even after controlling for gender, race, medical school, and residency program type. CONCLUSION: Half of the psychiatric chief residents surveyed reported the lack of a clearly defined career development mentor. In addition, a chief resident's response of lacking a clear mentor was associated with the perception of being less prepared to practice psychiatry upon graduation. Psychiatric residency training programs may benefit from further clarification and implementation of effective mentorship programs

OBJECTIVE: The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) has partnered with the Harvard Macy Program for Healthcare Educators so that selected child and adolescent psychiatry academic faculty might enhance their teaching expertise in order to possibly enhance recruitment of medical students into child and adolescent psychiatry. METHODS: Thirteen child psychiatry faculty have graduated from the AACAP-Harvard Macy Teaching Scholars Program (HMTSP). There are 10 additional child and adolescent psychiatry faculty members in the process of completing the program. A survey was created to broadly assess the effect of the AACAP-HMTSP training on the first 13 graduates of the program as a pilot to guide future study of the program. Three teaching scholars who are the first authors of this article (JH, DS, MH) conducted this survey and the data interpretation for this study. RESULTS: Thirteen of the scholars submitted responses to the survey. All participants indicated a high degree of satisfaction with the HMTSP and with the overall usefulness of the concepts learned. All but one of the scholars reported that the program enhanced their teaching effectiveness. The scholars reported increased teaching of medical students (9 of 13) and psychiatry residents (6 of 13) after the HMTSP. CONCLUSION: The AACAP-Harvard Macy Teaching Scholars reported high levels of satisfaction with the overall program. Whether the reported increase in medical student and psychiatry resident mentoring and teaching will eventually lead to increased medical student recruitment into child and adolescent psychiatry remains to be determined

OBJECTIVE: The authors describe the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies (CAMS) undergraduate college minor at New York University. METHODS: The authors detail the development, structure, and operation of the CAMS minor. They describe the importance of identifying program goals, building coalitions, creating an advisory board, selecting teaching materials and instructors, and establishing a viable financial model. RESULTS: The authors present student evaluations from the first course, which demonstrate great satisfaction with the program. CONCLUSION: The successful development of the CAMS minor demonstrates that Schools of Medicine (more specifically, the departments of Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry) can have a positive impact on undergraduate student education, which may later translate into an increased number of students who consider entering medical school and child psychiatry

Reviews the book Child Psychiatry and the Media (2005). This book is designed to present a careful, balanced view of the effects of media on youth. Children in grades 3 to 12 spend over 6 hours a day using some form of media, particularly electronic media such as television. Part one of this issue addresses the effects of mass media on children's mental health and health behaviors. Much research on mass media has focused on the effects of the amount of mass media exposure. Parents are often particularly concerned about the effects of newer media such as interactive games and the Internet, in part because these media are more difficult for parents to monitor. In Part two, focus is shifted to the clinical implications and uses of mass media. This issue takes an important step in helping us to acknowledge the ubiquity and intensity of the media's effect on our children and the need for us as mental healthcare leaders to become literate in mass media, active in the development of media regulation and policy, and teachers of responsible media use for the benefit of our patients.

Background: Few policies designed specifically to support child and adolescent mental health exist worldwide. The absence of policy is a barrier to the development of coherent systems of mental healthcare for children and adolescents. Method: This study collected data on existing policies from international databases, WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and in consultation with experts in child and adolescent psychiatry from around the world. A set of criteria for ranking the adequacy of these policies was developed. Results: Though no single country was found to have a mental health policy strictly pertaining to children and adolescents alone, 35 countries (corresponding to 18% of countries worldwide) were found to have identifiable mental health policies, which may have some beneficial impact on children and adolescents. Though little has been achieved worldwide in this area, there has been a significant degree of movement towards policy development in the past 10 years. The policies identified vary greatly in terms of their provisions for delivering services, initiating research, training professionals, and educating the public. Conclusions: The development of mental health policies is feasible and would substantially aid in the expansion of service systems, the institutionalisation of culturally relevant data gathering, and the facilitation of funding. (journal abstract)

Current treatments for pediatric nocturnal enuresis rely upon the use of behavioral interventions, such as enuresis alarms, and pharmacological interventions, such as antidiuretic hormone analogs, tricyclic antidepressants, and anticholinergics. However, a considerable number of patients do not respond fully to any of these interventions, in spite of optimal behavioral management and medication dosing. This report describes 4 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comorbid with nocturnal enuresis. Each child was treated with atomoxetine for ADHD and experienced serendipitous resolution of enuresis

We report a case of misinterpretation of a non-REM sleep parasomnia as suicidal behavior in an early adolescent. A 12-year-old female with a history of sleepwalking but no prior psychiatric diagnosis awoke in the middle of the night with a deep laceration to her neck and complete amnesia for the event. During the initial 2-week pediatric hospitalization, it was believed that the wound was intentionally self-inflicted despite patient claims and evidence to the contrary. The patient was placed on a psychiatric hold and transferred to an appropriate facility. We review rule-out diagnoses and evidence supporting this case as an example of a violent non-REM parasomnia resulting in self-injurious behavior. Diagnostic and treatment implications are discussed

OBJECTIVE:The study examined the relationship between mental disorders and the use of complementary and alternative medicine. METHOD/METHODS:Data from a national household telephone survey conducted in 1997-1998 (N=9,585) were used to examine the relationships between use of complementary and alternative medicine during the past 12 months and several demographic variables and indicators of mental disorders. Structured diagnostic screening interviews were used to establish diagnoses of probable mental disorders. RESULTS:Use of complementary and alternative medicine during the past 12 months was reported by 16.5% of the respondents. Of those respondents, 21.3% met diagnostic criteria for one or more mental disorders, compared to 12.8% of respondents who did not report use of alternative medicine. Individuals with panic disorder and major depression were significantly more likely to use alternative medicine than those without those disorders. Respondents with mental disorders who reported use of alternative medicine were as likely to use conventional mental health services as respondents with mental disorders who did not use alternative medicine. CONCLUSIONS:We found relatively high rates of use of complementary and alternative medicine among respondents who met criteria for common mental disorders. Practitioners of alternative medicine should look for these disorders in their patients, and conventional medical providers should ask their depressed and anxious patients about the use of alternative medicine. More research is needed to determine if individuals with mental disorders use alternative medicine because conventional medical care does not meet their health care needs.