The Impact of Psychiatric Distress on Co-morbid Medical Illness: A Problem Based Learning (PBL) Case

Abstract

OPEN ACCESSNovember 8, 2006The Impact of Psychiatric Distress on Co-morbid Medical Illness: A Problem Based Learning (PBL) Case Jason Rosenstock, MD Jason Rosenstock, MD Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Google Scholar More articles by this author https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.251 SectionsAbout ToolsDownload Citations ShareFacebookTwitterEmail AbstractAbstract Introduction: Medical students are often unaware of the relationship between mood/anxiety disorders and cardiovascular disease (e.g., the behavioral and biological mechanisms through which depression might lead to, or exacerbate coronary artery disease). To improve both the assessment and management of such patients we created this problem-based learning (PBL) case. Methods: Like most PBLs, this case has two parts. Part 1 involves a case introduction, where facilitators help students discuss the case, develop learning objectives, and choose which objectives to work on before the next session. Part 2 involves the resolution of the case where students present the results of their independent research on the learning objectives. When administering this PBL, facilitator training is essential. A 1-hour session covering PBL process in general and the specific content of this case should be sufficient. It is useful to have faculty from both psychiatry and internal medicine present during both training and the actual PBL. The case can easily be adapted for use in either clinical or preclinical experiences and in different specialty courses. Results: In terms of effectiveness, medical student response was assessed after running this PBL for 1 year. Nearly 40% of participating students found that the PBL contributed a “significant” or “considerable” amount to their overall learning; over three-fourths found it at least moderately helpful in this regard. Faculty facilitators consistently noted how effective this PBL was in generating student interest and discussion. Qualitative review of student presentations related to PBL learning objectives showed effective knowledge retrieval/acquisition and higher-level analysis, superior to other PBLs used previously in the psychiatry course. Discussion: The significance of this PBL, lies in the approach to teaching comorbidity-sharing conditions among specialties. This challenges students to think outside of traditional silos, and reinforces the importance of an extremely common yet undertaught clinical situation. The learning objectives listed could easily be changed to meet the needs of a particular course or clerkship; in fact, the PBL process itself encourages students to develop their own learning objectives independently, so there would likely be some differences between what students choose to focus on compared to what we have listed. Educational Objectives By the end of this session, learners will be able to: Recognize depression in the context of comorbid medical illness.Appreciate depression's adverse impact on the prognosis of comorbid medical illness and the potential mechanisms by which it might exert its effect.Describe effective depression treatment strategies that can be employed by any physician.Know when to refer depressed medically ill patients to the specialty mental health sector. Sign up for the latest publications from MedEdPORTAL Add your email below FILES INCLUDEDReferencesRelatedDetails FILES INCLUDED Included in this publication: Depression Cardio PBL Facilitator Version.doc Depression Cardio PBL Student Version.doc To view all publication components, extract (i.e., unzip) them from the downloaded .zip file. Download editor’s noteThis publication may contain technology or a display format that is no longer in use. Cited BySchatte D, Levine R, Allen M and Findley C (2016) Mood Disorders and Psychotherapeutics Team-Based Learning Activity, MedEdPORTAL, 12, Online publication date: 1-Jan-2016. Copyright & Permissions© 2006 Rosenstock. This is an open-access publication distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license.KeywordsPsychotherapeutic ProcessesPBLDepressionAntidepressive AgentsPsychiatric Distress Disclosures None to report. Funding/Support None to report. Prior Presentations Rollman BL, Muldoon MF, Rosenstock J, Kalyanam RC, Humphrey A. Initial development of a multidisciplinary curriculum to raise medical students' awareness of the impact of depression on comorbid medical disease. Poster presented at: Association of American Medical Colleges Annual Meeting; November 2005; Washington DC. Loading ...