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Evaluation of a Behavioral Science Curriculum by Psychiatrists, Family Practitioners and Pediatricians

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Abstract

A questionnaire was developed from the goals and objectives of the first and second medical school curriculum of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine’s Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science. Seventy-seven physicians, including psychiatrists, family practitioners and pediatricians rated the clinical relevance of the sixty-five behavioral science content areas in the questionnaire. Behavioral science areas rated very clinically relevant are discussed in terms of feedback to undergraduate medical students and in terms of potential collaborative continuing medical education for the three medical specialties used as physician raters. Also, the areas rated as minimally clinically relevant by family practitioners and pediatricians which focused on theories of human behavior suggest that the psychiatrist and behavioral scientist in medical education need to develop new approaches in order to change the view of nonpsychiatric physicians toward the theoretical aspect of human behavior.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Tulane University School of Medicine, USA

    Earl A. Burch M.D.

  2. Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Charleston, South Carolina, 29208, USA

    George A. Holmes PH.D. (faculty member), Harry H. Wright M.D.,  Elizabeth C. Chestnut (Research Analyst) &  Patrick T. Butterfield M.D.

Authors
  1. George A. Holmes PH.D.
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  2. Earl A. Burch M.D.
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  3. Harry H. Wright M.D.
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  4. Elizabeth C. Chestnut
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  5. Patrick T. Butterfield M.D.
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Additional information

Support for this research was provided by NIMH Grant Number 5 TO 1 MH14370.

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Holmes, G.A., Burch, E.A., Wright, H.H. et al. Evaluation of a Behavioral Science Curriculum by Psychiatrists, Family Practitioners and Pediatricians. Acad Psychiatry 10, 228–234 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399965

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399965

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