Implementing a new physician manager curriculum into a psychiatry residency training program: the change process, barriers and facilitators

Abstract

The Physician Manager role has been identified as an essential competency for physicians. There are only a small number of training programs throughout Canada and the USA that offer formal curricula aimed at preparing psychiatry residents for their early career as Physician Managers. Given the expressed need arising from a wide range of stakeholders, our group at the University of Toronto embarked on the process of developing a Physician Manager curriculum for residents in psychiatry. This article describes the process we undertook to facilitate this curricular change, with a focus on select concepts in change management as it applies to curricular change, and the associated barriers and facilitators. Additionally, the article focuses on the role of the psychiatrist in the process.