Comparison of child psychiatry residents' and training directors' perceptions of training for alcohol and substance abuse treatment.

Residents anddirectors of accredited child and adolescent psychiatry programs (N = 117) in the United States were surveyed (with a response rate of 89% and 76.9%, respectively) to determine the extent and adequacy of training offered for the identification and management of substance abuse disorders. Of the responders, 24% of the residents indicated some exposure (≥1 hour) to an adolescent drug abuse treatment facility during their training. In contrast, 46% of the directors reported that their residents had such exposure. Residents consistently reported training to be less adequate than did directors. Only half of the residents reported that they felt adequately prepared to identify and initially manage a substance-abusing adolescent, whereas a somewhat higher percentage of the directors (59%) felt that their residents were adequately prepared for this function.

Alcoholism and substance abuse teaching in child psychiatry residency programs.

In order to determine the needs and goals of substance abuse teaching, vis-à-vis child psychiatry training, a questionnaire was sent to the training directors at every child psychiatry program accredited by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Examination. The results demonstrated that most child psychiatry programs schedule at least some didactic time specifically for substance abuse topics. However, only 59% of the training directors felt that their fellows were adequately educated to identify and at least initially manage a drug abusing adolescent.