Topics covered in the Psychosomatic Medicine seminars

The curriculum of the fellowship will adhere closely to the ACGME guidelines for educational topics that ought to be covered in a Psychosomatic Medicine fellowship didactic seminar series.

These include:

the nature and extent of psychiatric morbidity in medical illness and its treatments
the impact of comorbid psychiatric disorders on the course of medical illness
understanding of how and why patients respond to illness
knowledge of appropriate treatment interventions for co-existing psychiatric disorders in the medically ill
psychological and psychiatric effects of new medical or surgical therapies
the epidemiology of psychiatric illness and its treatment in medical disease, and knowledge of the nature and factors that influence the physician-patient relationship
psychiatric complications of medical illnesses
psychiatric complications of medical treatments, especially medications, new surgical or medical procedures, transplantation, and a range of experimental therapies
typical and atypical presentations of psychiatric disorders that are due to medical, neurological, and surgical illnesses
evaluation and management of delirium, dementia, and secondary (“organic”) psychiatric disorders
evaluation and management of somatoform disorders and chronic pain
assessment of capacity to give informed consent for medical and surgical procedures in the presence of cognitive impairment
provision of non-pharmacologic interventions, including cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, as well as focused, short-term psychotherapy in patients suffering the effects of complex medical disorders or their treatments
indications for, and use of psychotropics in specific medical, neurological, obstetrical, and surgical conditions
interactions between psychotropic medications and the full range of medications used for a variety of medical and surgical conditions
collaboration with other physicians, and other members of the multidisciplinary treatment team
teaching other physicians and other members of the multidisciplinary team how to recognize and respond to Psychosomatic Medicine and various psychiatric disorders
leading an integrated psychosocial health care team in the medical setting

Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship

Topics covered in the Psychosomatic Medicine seminars