Psychology-Led Integration of Psychosocial Skills Groups Into Physician Assistant Student Family Medicine Training.

Abstract

Introduction: Primary care providers need to be able to effectively recognize and treat common mental health concerns. Foundational mental health training is typically embedded into physician assistant (PA) didactic training; while essential, students in didactic training may not yet recognize the relevance and clinical nuances of these presentations. To better prepare university-based PA students to address mental health in primary care, a 4-session interdisciplinary psychosocial skills enhancement group was developed for second-year students and conducted over 3 years. This weekly virtual group was facilitated by a doctoral-level student in clinical psychology and attended by PA students in their family medicine rotation (n = 204). Students presented patient cases, provided feedback to fellow students, developed case conceptualizations, and engaged in didactics.

Methods: After completing the group, participants received a survey assessing their satisfaction, perceived improvements in behavioral health knowledge and comfort, and suggestions for refining the group. Descriptive analyses and qualitative content analyses were conducted.

Results: Survey results were overall positive, indicating that students felt more prepared to treat behavioral health conditions and enjoyed having a group facilitator from outside their program with expertise in psychology. Qualitative results suggested the benefits of increased reflective practice, improved peer support, and appreciation for didactic psychosocial content.

Discussion: Given the prevalence of behavioral health concerns in primary care, incorporating an interdisciplinary training and supervision component may be an effective way of increasing clinical competencies, enhancing professional well-being, and better meeting future patient needs.