Abstract
AimTo assess the self-perceived competencies in diagnosing and treating patients with mental health disorders, among recently graduated general practitioners (GPs) from Lima, Peru.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed in April 2017 at a General Practitioner’s meeting held for those who were going to perform the social service, by the Peruvian College of Physicians in Lima. Attendees were invited to answer a questionnaire that evaluated their self-perception of competence in diagnosing and treating four different mental health disorders; major depression, anxiety disorder, alcohol dependence, and schizophrenia.ResultsOut of 434 evaluated GPs, the following percentages were self-perceived as competent in their adequate diagnosis of depression (70.5%), anxiety (73.3%), alcohol dependence (67.6%), and schizophrenia (62.0%). Concerning pharmacological treatment, these percentages were 46.6, 47.5, 39.0 and 37.6%, respectively. Referring to all the studied mental disorders, 41.6% of participants self-perceived competence in providing an adequate diagnosis, 36.1% in providing non-pharmacological treatment, and 20.1% in providing pharmacological treatment.ConclusionThe rate of adequate self-perceived competences was higher for diagnosis than for treatment of patients with mental health disorders. These results highlight the importance of designing and implementing interventions to improve medical education so as to develop the skills necessary to confront mental health disorders.
Highlights
The burden of mental health disorders continues to grow over time, with 22.7% of people worldwide living with a mental health disability [1]
Many General practitioners (GP) working in primary care are currently performing the Urban Rural Marginal Internship Program, which is a social service mandatory for those who want to work for the state or carry out medical residency and studies in Perú [6, 7]
Type of study and population A cross-sectional study was performed in which selfadministered surveys were presented to GPs attending the “Sixth National Urban Rural Marginal Internship Program (SERUMS) Convention” (“VI Convención Nacional SERUMS”), a convention organized by The Young Physicians Committee (“Comité Médico Joven”) of the Peruvian College of Physicians in April 2017
Summary
The burden of mental health disorders continues to grow over time, with 22.7% of people worldwide living with a mental health disability [1]. The number of specialized mental health professionals is insufficient to confront this problem, this is predominantly tangible in developing countries where the ratio of physicians to patients is much more disparate [2, 3]. It is necessary for primary health care personnel such as general practitioners (GPs), psychologists, nurses, and. Many GPs working in primary care are currently performing the Urban Rural Marginal Internship Program (called SERUMS for its acronym in Spanish), which is a social service mandatory for those who want to work for the state or carry out medical residency and studies in Perú [6, 7].
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