Educational Needs Assessment for Psychiatry Residents to Prevent Suicide: A Qualitative Approach

Abstract

Background: Suicide is a commonly encountered and stressful event in professional life of any psychiatrist. Suicide risk assessment is a major gateway to patient treatment and management. It is a core competency requirement in training of psychiatry. The present study designed to assesseducational needsfor suicide prevention in residents of psychiatry in two medical schools in Iran, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) and Shahid Beheshti Medical University (SBUMS) inTehran.

Methods: This was a qualitative triangulation study, conducted in two steps. The first step was based on a phenomenological approach and the second was based on focus groups. The studied population was the psychiatric residents of IUMS and SBUMS. Purposive sampling was implemented until saturation. Interviews were performed. Colaizzi method was used to analyze the data. In the second step, participants attended a session, in which all final codes of the first step were discussed, and regarding the views, educational priorities and needs were listed.

Results: A total of 2047 codes, extracted from 31 interviews, analyzed through Colaizzi method, were categorized in three groups: Educational, facilities and processes, human resources.

Conclusions: According to defects of current educational program, we suggest regular reevaluations and revisions of clinical training programs according to current needs.

Keywords: Needs assessment, psychiatry residents, suicide