Training Psychiatric Residents and Fellows in a Telepsychiatry Clinic: A Supervision Model

Objectives The authors assess the effectiveness of a specialized telepsychiatry training and supervision training model. Methods Fifteen residents and eight child fellows rotated through Cedars Sinai Medical Center Telepsychiatry Developmental Disability Clinic and completed questionnaires of knowledge and self-assessed skills at commencement and completion of the rotation. The supervision was on site, side-by-side, and directive. Results Both the residents and the fellows demonstrated improvement. Increase in knowledge was equal in the study cohorts, while residents’ self-assessed skills were significantly greater than the fellows’. Conclusion A telepsychiatry clinic appears to be an appropriate setting in which to provide direct supervision. Exposure to such opportunities early in training may yield a greater impact.