Evaluation of a training program "psychiatry for emergency physicians"

Objective: Psychiatric education was neglected in emergency medicine until lately. Although measures for assuring the quality of care are established, there are up to now no investigations about the effectiveness of the psychiatric programs which are used in the German Emergency Physicians' Basic Training Program (EPTP-B, "Fachkundenachweis Rettungsdienst"). Herewith a first evaluation of a training program for psychiatric emergencies is presented. Methods: Participants of the EPTP-B in Hamburg were imparted defined contents to achieve the educational objective. Before and afterwards two semi-structured questionnaires had to be answered asking for previous knowledge, attitudes, educational success and necessity for further training. Results: At the beginning of the course 42 medical doctors (m/f: 22/20, mean age: 32,2+/-4,6 years) estimated their knowledge as poor and the necessity for training as high. At the end, the majority rated the program as educative, informative (69 %) and practical (81 %). However, the training was judged to be too short (81 %) and the participants still felt too distanced from the educational objective. Conclusions: There are necessity, demand and interest for an intensified psychiatric education of emergency physicians who are confronted with a high number and variety of psychic disturbances. On-the-job training of the theoretical matters is essential.