Reflections on Piloting a Health Policy and Advocacy Curriculum for Psychiatry Residents

• Published in: Academic psychiatry Vol. 47; no. 6; pp. 667 - 671
• Main Authors: Mathias, Charles W., Sandoval, Jessica F., Noble, Sara E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Advocacy; Behavioral Objectives; Communication; Core curriculum; Course Content; Curriculum Design; Didacticism; Educational Case Report; Jurisdiction; Medical Education; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental disorders; Mental health; Moral injury; Policy Analysis; Professional identity; Psychiatrists; Psychiatry; Quality improvement; Seminars; Skill Development; Skills; Training; Workshops; Writing; United States > US
• ISSN: 1042-9670; 1545-7230; 1545-7230
• DOI: 10.1007/s40596-023-01781-x

Regional political and geographical constraints or advantages should play a role, too…” Because of this need for custom curricula, more representation is needed in the academic literature (for review, see [7]) documenting psychiatry health policy and advocacy training. Curriculum Development A new elective seminar, Mental Health Policy & Advocacy in Action, was created to (a) orient residents to the significant role public policy plays in clinical practice and patient health and (b) introduce skills in advocating for policy change. Residents were provided with a reference guide on how to write a letter to a policymaker, a policy brief, and an Op-Ed Week 3 Building health policy and advocacy into your career Didactics: a panel discussion by three senior psychiatrists with significant advocacy accomplishments in changing mental health policy at the institutional, state, and federal levels Experiential: residents were provided feedback on their advocacy writing by a psychiatrist with experience in health policy advocacy. Residents and course directors were debriefed with reflections on the seminar experience and ideas for expanding health policy training and advocacy efforts within the residency training program Key decisions in the curriculum design process to meet our specific training program and residents’ needs included consideration of the recruitment of a course design and director team experienced in health policy and advocacy, solicitation of buy-in from residency education leadership, advertising for course recruitment, prioritization of content within the course time constraints, the timing of the course within the academic calendar and in relation to state/federal legislative sessions, access of locally recognizable psychiatrists with experiences pertinent for didactic presentations, input from institutional government relations and communications teams, the feasibility of different types of advocacy writing projects, and the essential elements of surveys for course quality improvement.