Abstract
Objective
The authors evaluated the confidence and willingness of resident graduates to treat individuals with intellectual disability (ID), following a residency rotation in developmental disability.
Methods
Thirty-two graduates of a single residency program were surveyed regarding their post-residency experience with patients with intellectual disability. All graduates had completed a 3 month, half-time residency rotation in intellectual disability. The anonymous 12-question survey sought feedback about satisfaction with the rotation, confidence in serving persons with ID, and actual post-residency work with ID patients.
Results
Twenty-three of 32 (72%) of graduates returned surveys. On a 6-point scale (1 = strongly disagree; 6 = strongly agree), residents most strongly endorsed that the rotation had built their capacity in ID (5.78), confidence (5.48), and satisfaction (5.37). Lowest ratings were given to professional contact in ID initiated by the graduate (2.74), identifying expertise to the community (3.22), and post-residency practice with patients with ID (3.30). Differences between respondents who identified post-residency contact with persons with ID (N = 8), and respondents who did not (N=15), did not reach statistical significance.
Conclusions
Psychiatric graduates appear to value specialized education and experience in working with ID patients during residency, and feel more confident as a result. In spite of this, the majority of resident graduates did not identify ID training or expertise to their practice community, or choose to work with ID patients following residency.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Potter H: Mental deficiency and the psychiatrist. Am J Psychiatry 1927; 83: 691–698
Turnbull R, Turnbull A, Warren S, et al: Shakespeare redux, or Romeo and Juliet revisited: embedding a terminology and name change in a new agenda for the field of mental retardation. Ment Retardation 2002; 40: 65–70
American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD): “World’s oldest organization on intellectual disability has a progressive new name.” AAMR News, Nov 2006; www.aamr.org.
Menolascino F: Mental retardation and comprehensive training in psychiatry. Am J Psychiatry 1967; 124: 459–466
Raskin D: Training psychiatrists in mental retardation. Am J Psychiatry 1972; 128: 127–129
Phillips A, Morrison J, Davis RW: General practitioners’ educational needs in intellectual disability health. J Intellectual Disabilities Res 2004; 48: 142–149
Burge P, Ouellettte-Kuntz H, McCreary B, et al: Senior residents in psychiatry: views on training in developmental disabilities. Can J Psychiatry 2002; 47: 568–571
King B, Szymanski L, Weissblatt S: Psychiatry and mental retardation: a curriculum guide. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1995
Antochi R: Training in developmental disabilities needed during psychiatric residency. Psychiatr Annals 2004; 34: 233–236
Stark J, Menolascino FJ: Training of psychiatrists in mental retardation. J Psychiatr Education 1986; 10: 235–246
Menolascino FJ, Fleisher M: Training psychiatric residents in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in mentally retarded persons. Hosp and Community Psychiatry 1992; 43: 500–503
Schwartz SA, Ruedrich SL, Dunn JE: Training psychiatry residents in mental retardation and developmental disabilities, in Contemporary Dual Diagnosis: MH/MR Service Models Volume II: Partial and Supportive Services. Edited by Jacobson JW, Holburn S, Mulick JA. New York, NADD Press, 2002
Report of the Task Force on Psychiatric Services to Adult Mentally Retarded and Developmentally Disabled Persons. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1991
Harris JC: Intellectual Disability: Understanding its Development, Causes, Classification, Evaluation, and Treatment. Oxford University Press, New York, 2006
Cooper SA, Smiley E, Morrison J, et al: Mental ill health in adults with intellectual disabilities: prevalence and associated factors. Br J Psychiatry 2007; 190: 27–35
Braddock D, Hemp R, Rizzolo MC: State of the states in developmental disability. Ment Retardation 2004; 42: 356–370
Closing the Gap: A National Blueprint to Improve the Health of Persons with Mental Retardation; Report of the Surgeon General’s Conference on Health Disparities and Mental Retardation. Washington, DC, U.S. Public Health Service, 2001
Hollins S: Developmental psychiatry—insights from learning disability. Br J Psychiatry 2000; 177: 201–206
Schwartz SA, Ruedrich SL, Dunn JE: Psychiatry in mental retardation and developmental disabilities: A training program for psychiatry residents. Ment Health Aspects of Developmental Disabilities 2005; 8: 13–21
Statsoft, Inc. STATISTICA, version 6. 2003; www.statsoft.com.
Lunsky Y, Bradley EA: Developmental disability training in Canadian psychiatry residency programs. Can J Psychiatry 2001; 46: 138–143
Linaker OM, Flovig JC: Knowledge about mental retardation among psychiatric residents. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 2004; 124: 1090–1092
Lennox N, Chaplin R: The psychiatric care of people with intellectual disabilities: the perceptions of trainee psychiatrists and psychiatric medical officers. Australian and New Zealand J Psychiatry 1995; 29: 632–637
Reinblatt SP, Rifkin A, Castellanos FZ, et al: General psychiatry residents’ perceptions of specialized training in the field of mental retardation. Psychiatr Serv 2004; 55: 312–314
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ruedrich, S., Dunn, J., Schwartz, S. et al. Psychiatric Resident Education in Intellectual Disabilities: One Program’s Ten Years of Experience. Acad Psychiatry 31, 430–434 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.31.6.430
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.31.6.430