Physical Examination Skills Among Chief Residents in Psychiatry: Practices, Attitudes, and Self-Perceived Knowledge

Objectives The authors investigated the attitudes, self-perceived competence, and the need for a dedicated curriculum on physical examination skills among chief residents in psychiatry. Methods A voluntary 28-item web-based questionnaire was distributed to psychiatry chief residents in the USA between January 2019 and February 2019. Results Of 181 chief residents, 79 (response rate, 44%) completed the online survey. The majority of chief residents want to improve their physical exam skills (64%) and believe that there should be a targeted curriculum aimed at incorporating these skills into everyday psychiatric practice (63%). However, most (57%) chief residents reported that they only conduct physical exams on a few selected patients (< 25% of the time) and almost half (48%) last used a stethoscope a year ago, if not longer. Self-perceived competence and comfort level with neurology-related exam findings was especially low: only 35% could identify discrepant neurological findings and 33% elicit Hoover's sign of leg paresis. A significant majority (86%) believed that performing a physical exam would not interfere with the therapeutic relationship. Conclusions Although chief residents in psychiatry believe that developing competence in physical examinations is important to their education, the current educational landscape does not support the development of these skills. Future educational strategies should focus on addressing this need.