The University of Hong Kong.
Int J Psychiatry Med. 2011;42(2):133-49. doi: 10.2190/PM.42.2.c.
There are increasing expectations on primary care doctors to care for patients with common mental health problems. This study examines the outcomes of a postgraduate training course in psychological medicine for primary care doctors.
A questionnaire developed by the research team was sent to the Course graduates (year 2003-2007). A retrospective design was adopted to compare their clinical practice characteristics before and after the Course. Differences in the ratings by the respondents before and after the Course were analyzed using the nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test.
Sixty-nine graduates replied with a response rate of 58.5% (69/118). Most respondents were confident of diagnosing (96.9%) and managing (97.0%) common mental health problems after the Course, compared to 50.0% and 50.7%, respectively, before the Course. Most graduates had modified their approach, increased their attention and empathy to patients with mental health problems. The percentage of respondents having enough time to treat these patients had increased from 55.8% to 72.1%. The median number of patients with mental health problems seen per week was in the range of 3-6 before, and had increased to the range of 7-10 after the Course. The proportion of respondents being confident of making appropriate referrals had increased from 72.8% to 97.0%, while the number of referrals to psychiatrists had dropped significantly.
The Course is effective in improving graduates' confidence, attitude, and skills in treating patients with common mental health problems. There are significant increases in the number of mental health patients handled, increased confidence in making referrals to psychiatrists, and decreased percentage of patients being referred.
人们对初级保健医生照顾常见精神健康问题患者的期望越来越高。本研究考察了针对初级保健医生的心理医学研究生课程的培训效果。
研究团队开发的问卷发给课程毕业生（2003-2007 年）。采用回顾性设计，比较课程前后他们的临床实践特点。采用非参数 Wilcoxon 符号秩检验分析受访者课程前后评分的差异。
69 名毕业生回复，回复率为 58.5%（69/118）。与课程前相比，大多数受访者在课程后更有信心诊断（96.9%）和管理（97.0%）常见精神健康问题，而课程前的比例分别为 50.0%和 50.7%。大多数毕业生改变了方法，增加了对有心理健康问题的患者的关注和同理心。有足够时间治疗这些患者的受访者比例从 55.8%增加到 72.1%。每周看 3-6 名精神健康问题患者的人数中位数与课程前相同，增加到 7-10 名患者后。有信心进行适当转诊的受访者比例从 72.8%增加到 97.0%，而转诊到精神科医生的人数明显减少。
该课程在提高毕业生治疗常见精神健康问题患者的信心、态度和技能方面非常有效。处理的精神健康患者数量显著增加，对向精神科医生转诊的信心增加，转诊患者的比例降低。
