Psychiatry in the Harvard Medical School-Cambridge Integrated Clerkship: an innovative, year-long program.

OBJECTIVE

The authors present what is to their knowledge the first description of a model for longitudinal third-year medical student psychiatry education.

METHOD

A longitudinal, integrated psychiatric curriculum was developed, implemented, and sustained within the Harvard Medical School-Cambridge Integrated Clerkship. Curriculum elements include longitudinal mentoring by attending physicians in an outpatient psychiatry clinic, exposure to the major psychotherapies, psychopharmacology training, acute psychiatry "immersion" experiences, and a variety of clinical and didactic teaching sessions.

RESULTS

The longitudinal psychiatry curriculum has been sustained for 8 years to-date, providing effective learning as demonstrated by OSCE scores, NBME shelf exam scores, written work, and observed clinical work. The percentage of students in this clerkship choosing psychiatry as a residency specialty is significantly greater than those in traditional clerkships at Harvard Medical School and greater than the U.S. average.

CONCLUSION

Longitudinal integrated clerkship experiences are effective and sustainable; they offer particular strengths and opportunities for psychiatry education, and may influence student choice of specialty.