Perinatal mental health in medical school curricula: a national scoping survey of British universities and student psychiatry societies
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Aims and method:
With increasing recognition of the prevalence and impact of perinatal mental health (PMH) disorders comes a responsibility to ensure that tomorrow's doctors can support families during the perinatal period. Online surveys seeking information about the inclusion of PMH education in undergraduate curricula were sent to psychiatry curriculum leads and student psychiatry societies from each university medical school in the UK between April and September 2021.
Results:
Responses were received from 32/35 (91.4%) medical schools. Two-thirds reported specific inclusion of PMH content in the core curriculum, typically integrated into general adult psychiatry or obstetric teaching. Students at the remaining schools were all likely to be examined on the topic or see perinatal cases during at least one clinical attachment.
Clinical implications:
PMH education offers an opportunity for collaboration between psychiatry and other disciplines. Future work looking at educational case examples with objective outcomes would be valuable.
With increasing recognition of the prevalence and impact of perinatal mental health (PMH) disorders comes a responsibility to ensure that tomorrow's doctors can support families during the perinatal period. Online surveys seeking information about the inclusion of PMH education in undergraduate curricula were sent to psychiatry curriculum leads and student psychiatry societies from each university medical school in the UK between April and September 2021.
Results:
Responses were received from 32/35 (91.4%) medical schools. Two-thirds reported specific inclusion of PMH content in the core curriculum, typically integrated into general adult psychiatry or obstetric teaching. Students at the remaining schools were all likely to be examined on the topic or see perinatal cases during at least one clinical attachment.
Clinical implications:
PMH education offers an opportunity for collaboration between psychiatry and other disciplines. Future work looking at educational case examples with objective outcomes would be valuable.
Date Issued
2024-02-01
Date Acceptance
2023-01-01
Citation
BJPsych Bulletin, 2024, 48 (1), pp.51-56
ISSN
2056-4694
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Start Page
51
End Page
56
Journal / Book Title
BJPsych Bulletin
Volume
48
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000911481200001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
ATTITUDES
DISORDERS
EDUCATION
educational and training
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
medical education
medical students
Perinatal psychiatry
Psychiatry
Science & Technology
undergraduate curriculum
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
PII S2056469422000912
Date Publish Online
2023-01-12