Career Interests of Canadian Psychiatry Residents: What Makes Residents Choose a Research Career?

OBJECTIVES: Training future clinician-researchers remains a challenge faced by Canadian psychiatry departments. Our objectives were to determine the prevalence of residents interested in pursuing research and other career options as part of their practice, and to identify the factors associated with interest in research. METHOD: Data from a national online survey of 207 Canadian psychiatry residents from a total of 853 (24.3% response rate) were examined. The main outcome was interest in research as part of residents' future psychiatrist practice. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify demographic and vocational variables associated with research interest. RESULTS: Interest in research decreases by 76% between the first and fifth year of psychiatry residency (OR 0.76 per year, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.97). Training in a department with a residency research track did not correlate with increased research interest (χ2 = 0.007, df = 1, P = 0.93). CONCLUSIONS: Exposing and engaging psychiatry residents in research as early as possible in residency training appears key to promoting future research interest. Psychiatry residency programs and research tracks could consider emphasizing research training initiatives and protected research time early in residency.

Evaluation of a National Online Educational Program in Geriatric Psychiatry.

OBJECTIVE: This study provides evaluation results of an online study group (OSG) for geriatric psychiatry continuing professional development. METHODS: The OSG is an interactive, expert-facilitated, asynchronous educational experience for psychiatrists and residents in Canada. A retrospective web survey assessed self-efficacy, knowledge in geriatric psychiatry, comfort with online learning, and perceived effectiveness of the instructional methods. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and descriptive statistics were calculated. RESULTS: Twenty-nine (of 50) participants (58 %) completed the questionnaire. Although only 48 % of respondents reported improved perceived knowledge, 79 % reported improved efficacy beliefs, and 76 % reported improved comfort with online learning. Most (79 %) would consider taking OSG again, and 93 % would recommend it to others. CONCLUSIONS: The OSG was well-received, with greater benefits for self-efficacy with the material and comfort with online learning than for perceived knowledge itself. Further research is needed to ascertain actual knowledge change in the context of online learning in medical education.

What Makes Residents Interested in Geriatric Psychiatry? A Pan-Canadian Online Survey of Psychiatry Residents.

OBJECTIVES: In spite of a rapidly increasing need, there remains a shortage of geriatric psychiatrists in North America. The factors associated with psychiatric residents' interest in geriatric psychiatry have not yet been examined in a nationally representative sample. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Web-based online survey of Canadian psychiatry residents. PARTICIPANTS: 207 psychiatry residents (24.3% response rate). MEASUREMENTS: The main outcome was interest in becoming a geriatric psychiatrist. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to better understand what demographic, educational, and vocational variables were associated with interest in becoming a geriatric psychiatrist. RESULTS: A number of respondents had an interest in becoming a geriatric psychiatrist (29.0%, N = 60); in doing a geriatric psychiatry fellowship (20.3%, N = 42); or an interest in doing geriatric psychiatry as a part of the clinical practice (60.0%, N = 124). Demographic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity) did not correlate with interest in geriatric psychiatry. The variables most robustly associated with interest in geriatric psychiatry were: 1) completion of geriatric psychiatry rotation(s) before the third year of residency (OR: 5.13, 95% CI: 1.23-21.4); 2) comfort working with geriatric patients and their families (OR: 18.6, 95% CI: 2.09-165.3); 3) positive experiences caring for older adults prior to medical school (OR: 12.4, 95% CI: 1.07-144.5); and 4) the presence of annual conferences in the resident's field of interest (OR: 4.50, 95% CI: 1.12-18.2). CONCLUSION: Exposing medical students and junior psychiatry residents to clinical geriatric psychiatry rotations that increase comfort in working with older adults may be potential future strategies to improve recruitment of geriatric psychiatrists.