Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Module

Abstract

Based on the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine report it is estimated that one in every five children experience a mental disorder in a given year. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry there are less than one fourth of child and adolescent psychiatrists necessary to address the estimated national needs. It is essential for medical schools to expose students to child psychiatry as this might encourage them to pursue this as a specialty. Also, many of the students will become primary care physicians who will have the possibility to screen and in some cases treat child and adolescents with mental illnesses. The aim of this study was to develop an engaging and relevant educational tool to teach medical students about the most common diagnoses in child and adolescent psychiatry and their treatment. This module will be presented to third year medical students during their psychiatry clerkship. Their performance on the child psychiatry questions of the NBME psychiatry shelf exam will be compared to the performance of previous medical students that have taken the shelf exam after their psychiatry clerkship