Attention to body mass index by child psychiatry providers when prescribing second-generation antipsychotic medication to children: a survey study using a clinical vignette.

Aim: We sought to determine whether weight and body mass index measurement were taken into consideration when prescribing second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) medication to a child.

Methods: Two hundred clinicians were surveyed using a hypothetical clinical case vignette at a child psychopharmacology, postgraduate medical education course. The vignette described an overweight 10-year-old boy who was about to be prescribed an SGA medication to control psychotic symptoms.

Web-based simulation in psychiatry residency training: a pilot study.

Background: Medical specialties, including surgery, obstetrics, anesthesia, critical care, and trauma, have adopted simulation technology for measuring clinical competency as a routine part of their residency training programs; yet, simulation technologies have rarely been adapted or used for psychiatry training.

Objective: The authors describe the development of a web-based computer simulation tool intended to assess physician competence in obtaining informed consent before prescribing antipsychotic medication to a simulated patient with symptoms of psychosis.

Method: Eighteen residents participated in a pilot study of the Computer Simulation Assessment Tool (CSAT).