RESEARCH TRAINING IN PSYCHIATRY RESIDENCY
STRATEGIES FOR REFORM
Michael T. Abrams, Kathleen M. Patchan, and Thomas F. Boat, Editors
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
Support for this project was provided by the Institute of Mental Health. The views presented in this report are those of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Incorporating Research into Psychiatry Residency Training and are not necessarily those of the funding agencies.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
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COMMITTEE ON INCORPORATING RESEARCH INTO PSYCHIATRY RESIDENCY TRAINING
THOMAS F. BOAT (Chair), Chairman,
Department of Pediatrics, Unversity of Cincinnati, Ohio
BARBARA F. ATKINSON, Dean,
School of Medicine, University of Kansas, Kansas City
BENJAMIN S. BUNNEY, Charles BG Murphy Professor and Chairman,
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
GABRIELLE A. CARLSON, Director,
Child Psychiatry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York
JAMES J. HUDZIAK, Director,
Child Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington
DEAN G. KILPATRICK, Professor,
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston
WILLIAM B. LAWSON, Professor and Chair of Psychiatry,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.
VIRGINIA MAN-YEE LEE, Co-Director,
Center of Neurodegenerative Disease Research, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
JEROME B. POSNER, George Cotzias Chair,
Neuro-Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York
MICHELLE B. RIBA, Associate Chair,
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor
RICHARD M. SCHEFFLER, Professor,
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
JOEL YAGER, Professor and Vice Chair for Education,
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Board on Neuroscience and Behavioral Health Liaison
DAVID REISS, Professor,
Psychiatry, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Study Staff
MICHAEL T. ABRAMS, Study Director
KATHLEEN M. PATCHAN, Research Assistant (from October 2002)
MILAP NOWRANGI, Research Assistant (January-July 2002)
BRIAN S. McQUILLAN, Senior Project Assistant (December 2001-October 2002)
PARISA MORRIS, Christine Mirzayan Intern (June-August 2002)
Board on Neuroscience and Behavioral Health Staff
ANDREW M. POPE, Acting Director
TERRY C. PELLMAR, Director (until October 2002)
JANET JOY, Senior Program Officer
MICHAEL T. ABRAMS, Program Officer
LAUREN HONESS-MORREALE, Program Officer
LYNN NIELSEN-BOHLMAN, Program Officer
PATRICIA CUFF, Research Associate
ALLISON M. PANZER, Research Assistant
KATHLEEN M. PATCHAN, Research Assistant
LORA K. TAYLOR, Senior Project Assistant
ALLISON BERGER, Project Assistant
ROSA POMMIER, Finance Officer
INDEPENDENT REPORT REVIEWERS
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Joseph D. Bloom, Oregon Health Services University, School of Medicine
Veronica M. Catanese, New York University School of Medicine
Mina K. Dulcan, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
Larry D. Gruppen, University of Michigan Medical School
Lewis L. Judd, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
Jeffrey A. Lieberman, University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Georgine M. Pion, Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies
Ronald O. Rieder, Columbia University, and New York State Psychiatric Institute
Stephen C. Scheiber, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Charles B. Wilson, Health Technology Center, and the University of California, San Francisco
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by David N. Sundwall, American Clinical Laboratory Association, and Henry W. Riecken, University of Pennsylvania. Appointed by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Preface
Large numbers of individuals are in need of treatment and support for mental disorders. At the same time, the capacity of the health care system to support caregivers and other resources has lagged behind the demand for services. Over the decades, outcomes for individuals with serious behavioral problems have improved, but much needs to be done to meet current needs.
Strategic initiatives to meet this challenge include improving care systems, as well as improving modalities of care—diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive. Ultimately, new modalities of care will be required to ensure a more effective and efficient mental health care system. Opportunities for improvement through research have never been greater. Research tools, both biological and clinical, are increasingly applicable to a wide range of mental health questions and problems. Rapid advances in understanding the biological and functional basis for behavior and its alterations promise to spawn creative and effective clinical insights.
The National Institute of Mental Health sponsored this study of research training in psychiatry residency because of a growing concern that the numbers of psychiatrist-investigators have been falling short of meeting the need and the opportunities to advance the field. This concern is particularly acute in the area of child and adolescent psychiatry. NIMH, while certainly eager to stimulate relevant efforts in biological discovery, was particularly eager to focus this study on efforts directed at training of patient-oriented investigators.
The study committee, convened by the Institute of Medicine at the request of NIMH, gathered relevant information from many sources, but soon recognized that evidence available for assessing the magnitude of perceived problems in psychiatric research training and for devising potential solutions is limited. In addition, the committee’s assessment was
complicated by several factors: (1) much psychiatric research is carried out by Ph.D. scientists as well as by psychiatrist-investigators; (2) psychiatry is less uniformly oriented to standard treatment approaches than are other specialties; and (3) the charge to the committee was to focus on research in core residency training, a segment of training that has traditionally had the objective of ensuring clinical rather than research competency.
Recognizing the challenge inherent in its assignment, the committee resolutely considered a broad range of salient information in formulating a set of recommendations that reflect current evidence, as well as numerous carefully considered opinions. Among its recommendations, the committee in particular calls for a more cohesive approach by the psychiatry community to the issue of research training of psychiatrists, which as a first step would include assembly of a broadly representative national body to implement and further craft strategies to ensure more successful recruitment and training of psychiatrists for productive research careers. Thus, the committee hopes its efforts will be taken up by a steering group empowered to monitor and make future improvements to the training of psychiatrist-investigators as needed to advance psychiatric practice.
I would like to thank all the members of the committee for spirited discussions tempered by a sense of purpose, including a uniformly perceived need to present a call for action. I am certain that all the members join me in expressing deep appreciation to Michael Abrams, whose insights, determination, and persistence were key factors in translating a large volume of information and opinions into a cohesive report.
Finally, I wish to acknowledge the contribution of a few individuals who offered “behind the scenes” assistance to the completion of this report. Manuscript review and senior-level project support were furnished by Gooloo Wunderlich, Andy Pope, Melvin Worth, Douglas Weil, and Terry Pellmar. Detailed editing of the full report was provided by Rona Briere, while Margie Patlak provided some useful science writing. Finally, Sharon Turner and Judy Estep both offered important meeting planning and production support in the late stages of the study. Other contributors to this study are acknowledged throughout the text or listed in appendix A. In short, this report could not have been completed without the generous cooperation of a great number of competent individuals.
Thomas F. Boat
Chair
Tables, Figures, and Boxes
TABLES
ES-1 |
Summary of Recommendations, |
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1-1 |
Research Involvement Rates of Practicing Psychiatrists, |
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2-1 |
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic’s Developmental Pathways for Psychiatric Researchers, |
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2-2 |
Duration in Years of the Two Stages of Pediatric Subspecialty Training Pathways, |
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3-1 |
Summary of Duration, Time, and Research Requirements for Accredited Residency Training Programs, |
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4-1 |
Sources of Graduate Medical Education Funding, |
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4-2 |
Research Training Outcome Data from Several Residency Programs in Psychiatry, |
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4-3 |
Continuum of Residency-Based Research Training, |
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5-1 |
Examination Scores by Specialty Choice upon Entry to Medical School (MCAT) and upon Entry to Residency (USMLE), |
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5-2 |
Median Expected Starting Income for Graduates of New York State and California Residency Training Programs, 2002, |
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5-3 |
Selected Data from the American Psychiatric Association’s 1998 National Survey of Psychiatric Practice, |
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5-4 |
Demographic Composition of Residents in Various Specialties or Subspecialties of Medicine, |
FIGURES
5-1 |
Ratio of demand to supply of medical students who designate a given residency as their first career choice, versus the expected lifetime income, |
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5-2 |
Percent of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) research project grants that were awarded to principal investigators, stratified by highest degree, |
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5-3 |
Success rate of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) research project grant applications, stratified by degree of the principal investigator, |
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5-4 |
Total number (table) and percentage (graph) of all, female, and international medical graduate (IMGs) physicians declaring research as their primary activity, 1970–2000, |
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5-5 |
Number of international medical graduates (IMG) and U.S. medical graduates who entered psychiatry as PGY1 residents, |
BOXES
2-1 |
Rationale for Incorporating Research Training into the Residency Experience, |
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3-1 |
Requirements Prescribed by the Psychiatry Residency Review Committee for Accredited Programs in Adult (General) Psychiatry, |
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3-2 |
Requirements Prescribed by the Psychiatry Residency Review Committee for Accredited Programs in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, |
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3-3 |
Summary of Topics Included on Written Portion of Psychiatry Board Examination, |
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5-1 |
Nonsalary Benefits of a Research Career, |
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6-1 |
Three Studies Suggesting the Need for Psychiatrist-Researchers, |