Utilization of Mental Health Services by Medical College of Wisconsin Trainees.

INTRODUCTION: The goal of this study is to describe the change in utilization of mental health services by trainees at a private medical college in Wisconsin after specific interventions were instituted by the administration. METHODS: Multiphase interventions designed to increase access to care were instituted at the student behavioral health clinic. These interventions were based on the findings of online wellness surveys distributed to the Medical College of Wisconsin during the 2016-2017 school year. The authors collected annual utilization reports of student use of mental health services at the Medical College of Wisconsin and plotted them along a timeline of specific administrative interventions. RESULTS: Since the 2016-2017 academic year, medical students have used an average of 1274 mental health service visits per year compared to 637 visits annually during the academic years 2010-2011 through 2015-2016. The number of mental health visits increased significantly during 2016-2017 versus the average number of visits in previous years (P < 001; Cohen's d = 4.39). DISCUSSION: Similar to results shown worldwide, medical students in Wisconsin experience diminished mental health relative to their nonmedical peers. Recommendations have been made to provide additional administrative support to provide increased mental health resources to medical trainees. The findings in this report imply that incorporation of recommendations from the stakeholder medical trainees may be a key feature in the successful design and implementation of these supports.

Parental Engagement in Grief Programming Is Related to Children's Outcomes.

A multivariate model was used to study outcomes of childhood bereavement. The model included exogenous factors such as engagement and within-person resilience factors. Sixty-two parent-child dyads were recruited from a local children's grief center and completed measures of engagement in the programming, resilience and grief. A complex model was revealed in which parental engagement in the grief program was related to child engagement and the child's control beliefs which in turn were significantly related to the child's grief symptoms. These variables existed within a system, rather than within an individual.

Responding to the Psychological Needs of Health-Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Case Study from the Medical College of Wisconsin.

With the advent of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, health-care workers have been faced with an inordinately high level of trauma as frontline providers. The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) partnered with affiliate hospitals and community partners to mobilize a matrix of available support and interventions to deliver psychological services to reach all levels of health-care providers in timely, accessible formats. While virtual peer support groups were the most utilized resource among the support group options, other opportunities also provided unique benefits to learners whose education had been disrupted by the pandemic. Mental health must be prioritized for health-care workers in the event of future public health crises. Lessons learned from this pandemic indicate that it is critical to involve learners early on in the process in order to meet their educational needs and to increase access to evidence-based care.

Factors Underlying the Relationship Between Parent and Child Grief.

The death of a parent in a child's life is a significant risk factor for later mental and physical health problems. While much has been written about the surviving parent's functioning and its effects on their bereaved children, little work has been done to look into factors underlying this effect such as how the parent copes. The present study recruited 38 parent-child dyads from a community-based grief support center. Parent and child, independently, completed various measures of emotional functioning, including grief symptoms and coping such as social support and locus of control. The results indicated that parental coping did have an impact on children's grief symptoms. This represents a unique view of adaptation in bereaved children: Parental coping strategies can have an impact on the child, independent of the child's coping strategies. By focusing on parent coping, we have highlighted another possible pathway through which parental functioning affects children's grief.

Medical Student Wellness in Wisconsin: Current Trends and Future Directions.

INTRODUCTION: The goal of this study is to describe the state of mental health of Wisconsin medical students. METHODS: Online wellness surveys were distributed to students at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH) and Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) during the 2016-2017 school year. RESULTS: Of UWSMPH respondents, 40.0% and 12.5% reported experiencing depression/other mood changes and suicidal ideation during medical school, respectively. Twelve percent of MCW respondents screened positive for depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2, and 7.8% reported experiencing suicidal ideation in the last 2 weeks. DISCUSSION: Similar to results shown worldwide, Wisconsin medical students experience diminished mental health relative to nonmedical peers. Changes in medical education are needed to improve student mental well-being.