Pre-registration house officers' psychiatric knowledge in practice

Abstract

Psychiatric distress is commonly found in general hospital patients and is associated with a poorer outcome and increased complexity of care. It is important for non-psychiatric hospital doctors to possess skills of assessment and treatment of common psychiatric problems. This survey of all house officers in their first pre-registration posts in three large teaching hospitals found that Junior doctors rarely ask about or consider the presence of psychiatric problems in their patients. Where psychiatric problems are found, house officers often feel they lack the appropriate skills of assessment and management. This has important implications for medical school course content and emphasis.