Writing and Getting Published: Developing This Important Skill Set For Geriatric Mental Health Professionals

Abstract

Programs that train professionals in geriatric mental health expect their trainees to engage in scholarly activities including writing scientific manuscripts and getting them published either in books or journals. However, the training provided to achieve and/or maintain academic and scholarly productivity is limited. Additionally, there is no standard format or curriculum to teach the trainees on how to acquire this important skill set or develop and maintain their own academic portfolio. Furthermore, these deficiencies in developing scholarly productivity continue to hinder the career growth of the professional caring for older adults with mental health disorders. The clinical and administrative work load for these professionals often presents additional challenges that prevent them from acquiring the skill set to develop a writing and publishing career. In this symposium, we will discuss ideas and methods on how a geriatric mental health professional can develop and implement their own scientific writing and publishing career. We will provide step by step instructions on how scientific manuscripts can be developed and published. Additionally, the faculty presenting at this symposium will provide case examples from their academic portfolio to illustrate how specific manuscripts were developed and published.