Women's health competencies in the undergraduate psychiatry curriculum: past and future.

Objective: To review the current psychiatry model clerkship objectives for their inclusion of women's health competencies and advise changes in light of recommendations of psychiatric educators and those developed at the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) Women's Health Education Retreat 2000.

Study Design: The clerkship objectives promulgated by the Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry (ADMSEP) were reviewed for their relevance to women's health. ADMSEP members were surveyed at their 1997 annual meeting and again by means of their listserve in 2000 for opinions regarding inclusion of women's health topics in their curricula.

Trauma screening in students attending a medical university.

Clinicians seldom assess trauma history in patients who seek treatment for psychological problems, yet trauma exposure is often related to psychological distress. Assessing trauma history can provide valuable information for treatment conceptualization and provision, although patients may not spontaneously share their histories because of embarrassment, avoidance, or other concerns. The authors compared 73 students at a southeastern US medical university who sought counseling and psychological services and completed intake paperwork without a trauma screen with 130 students whose intake procedures included trauma screening.