F2 – Starting from Scratch: Developing PCBH Providers through Interdisciplinary Training

Summary

The fields of family medicine and behavioral health are stepping up to meet the growing demand for providers trained in the provision of team-based, integrated and interdisciplinary, healthcare. Each field has created competencies to guide their respective training programs and help ensure that trainees acquire the necessary skills to function in this collaborative environment. However, much of that training occurs separately, with the behavioral health and medical providers coming together only during the application of those skills to actual patient care. Because of this, each brings their own boxed recipe for patient care that they then must figure out how to mix together. Although some of this is necessary, given the unique value each field has to offer, at times it can lead to half-baked outcomes. When it come to the shared ingredients, what if we started from scratch when the providers are in their required training programs and integrated pieces of their training? Central Washington Family Medicine houses a family medicine residency, a predoctoral psychology internship, and a psychology postdoctoral fellowship. Since the inception of the psychology internship, we set out to integrate as many facets of the training programs that have shared relevance as possible, starting from day one with a robust orientation and community medicine month. In this presentation the psychology internship training director, the chief medical resident, and former psychology intern/current postdoc will review details of the orientation, as well as the other integrated training experiences, and the impact of those experiences. Strategies for implementing or enhancing integrated medical and behavioral health training as well as added benefits, lessons learned, and ethical considerations will be identified.