Preparing Psychiatric Residents for the Real World: A Practice Management Curriculum

Objective: The authors describe a course designed for residents to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to collaborate and successfully compete in today's complex health care environment and to achieve competency in systems-based practice. Methods: Postgraduation surveys demonstrated a need for improvement in preparing residents for practice management issues. The authors outline a 32-week practice management curriculum for postgraduate-year 3 (PGY 3) psychiatric residents. Results: The course was rated highly by residents in terms of topics covered, faculty involvement, and overall expectations. The project assignments completed by the residents were effective in creating objective change in the resident outpatient practice. Conclusion: Practice management is an essential part of residency training and can be successfully integrated into the residents' clinical practice experience. Future steps include assessment of the graduates at 1 and 5 years postgraduation to evaluate the long-term efficacy of the course.