Pediatrics Resident University of Washington School of Medicine Seattle, Washington, United States
Background: Recent increases in mental health conditions among youth were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Offering appropriate mental health treatment has been challenging for pediatric resident physicians to navigate. Objective: To address learning gaps and access needs, the University of Washington/Seattle Children’s (UW) Pediatric Program developed an educational case-based session for first year residents to increase knowledge and skills in identifying and managing common pediatric mental health disorders. The session also aims to review local behavioral and mental health resources, identify how to access these for patient care, and reflect on one’s own learning needs in pediatric training. Design/Methods: The educational intervention was designed by an interdisciplinary team from departments of Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry. Participants engaged in a 2-hour case-based session using an active learning model guided by a facilitator in the first hour, followed by an hour-long expert case review with a child psychiatrist. Cases focused on the three most prevalent diagnoses: depression, anxiety, and ADHD. Evaluation of the session was done anonymously via a pre-post survey. Differences in Likert scale responses were compared before and after the learning session. Descriptive statistics were computed. Comparisons between groups were conducted using a two-sided t-test; p values <.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: 32 residents completed the session and surveys (n=32). Residents (n=32) felt more equipped to access mental health (MH) resources for their patients after participating in the session (p-value < 0.0001). Every participant reported that they were likely to use local MH resources discussed in the session. For all 3 case diagnoses, residents indicated a statistically significant improvement in comfort diagnosis and management. These included for ADHD diagnosis (P-value: 0.0001) and management (P-value: < 0.0001); Depression diagnosis (P-value: 0.0015) and management (P-value: 0.0015); and Anxiety diagnosis (P-value: < 0.0001) and management (P-value: 0.0014).
Conclusion(s): Overall, this case-based, interactive session helped first year pediatric residents learn key content for primary care management of ADHD, anxiety and depression. The training was well received, with results indicating increased comfort and intention to use the resources shared. This session serves as an example of a model with relatively low resource intensity that could be incorporated into future mental health training, which will be required for pediatric residents in the proposed ACGME training requirements.
