Beyond the chalkboard: the interacting domains in undergraduate psychiatric teaching

Abstract

Objective: To identify and describe interacting domains that are present during undergraduate psychiatric teaching and impress on educators the roles of these domains.

Conclusions: Undergraduate psychiatric teaching is an essential part of general family physicians' training and practice. Undergraduate students' exposure to psychiatry might be inadequate. Curricular goals, teaching and evaluation of students need to be aligned. Research and information technology can play a bigger role in teaching. Validation of patients, students and teachers during the teaching process is important, but not always emphasized. Educators should be aware of society's unwritten expectations, judgements and opinions of mental illness sufferers. Identifying and facilitating the various interacting domains during psychiatric teaching may contribute to better education in psychiatry, better retention of knowledge for students and an improved recruitment of students to a psychiatric career.