Faculty Bibliography

Competency-based training approaches are being used more in healthcare to guide curriculum content and ensure accountability and outcomes in the educational process. This article provides an overview of the state of competency development in the field of behavioral health. Specifically, it identifies the groups and organizations that have conducted and supported this work, summarizes their progress in defining and assessing competencies, and discusses both the obstacles and future directions for such initiatives. A major purpose of this article is to provide a compendium of current competency efforts so that these might inform and enhance ongoing competency development in the varied behavioral health disciplines and specialties. These varied resources may also be useful in identifying the core competencies that are common to the multiple disciplines and specialties.

Introduction by the column editor: In this final column of the year, Dr. Taintor provides an overview of exciting technological developments via his report on the 2003 annual meeting of the American Association for Technology in Psychiatry (AATP). Advances-and convergences-in technology are providing clinicians with increasingly useful tools to enhance the effectiveness of their treatments, increase access to care, reduce errors, and save time. As Dr. Taintor notes, AATP's meeting is traditionally held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). I hope that his report will encourage APA's members to attend some of next year's informative sessions

This technical consensus statement is jointly produced by the Old Age Psychiatry section of the World Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization, with the collaboration of several NGOs and the participation of experts from different Regions.It is intended to be a tool for (i) promoting debate at all levels on the stigmatisation of older people with mental disorders; (ii) outlining the nature, causes and consequences of this stigmatisation; and (iii) promoting and suggesting policies, programmes and actions to combat this stigmatisation

This contribution summarizes the background leading up to the goals of and the experience gained from a major national initiative to expand and improve collaborative activities between state departments of mental health and university departments of psychiatry through regional conferences, national workshops, ongoing consultations, and awards. It details the problems of the public system and how successful collaborative efforts have improved the situation, cites the role of one such a program (in Maryland), recounts the process of holding a national invitational conference and the subsequent 'Call to Action,' and summarizes what the Pew Project is intended to do and how the project is progressing