Becoming Licensed Means That I Am Now Competent

2019 ◽  
pp. 7-11
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E. Barnett ◽  
Jeffrey Zimmerman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Clinical Competence ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Hard Work ◽  
Mental Health Clinicians ◽  
Clinical Experiences ◽  
Graduate Coursework ◽  
And Training ◽  
Over Time

Mental health clinicians invest in many years of hard work to develop their clinical competence through graduate coursework and through supervised clinical experiences. All this is done with the ultimate goal of becoming independently licensed to practice in one’s profession. Because licensure is such an important event, signifying the culmination of so much education and training, it may be natural to believe that becoming licensed means that one is now clinically competent. This chapter addresses how clinical competence and licensure should be viewed and understood. Licensure assesses one’s competence to enter the profession, but it cannot guarantee competence in all areas of clinical practice at the time of licensure or in the future. How to maintain, update, and expand one’s competence over time is addressed. Risks and threats to competence are discussed, and recommendations are provided for ensuring one’s ongoing competence over time.

Personal Injury Evaluations

2017 ◽  
pp. 641-646
Author(s):  
William E. Foote
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Personal Injury ◽  
Mental Health Clinicians ◽  
Legal Process ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluations ◽  
And Training

Often, personal injury claims are settled through the legal process in the courts. Appropriately trained mental health clinicians may play an important role in this process by providing comprehensive evaluations that assist the judge or jury to determine if the defendant in the case has caused injury or harm through his or her action or inaction by breaching his or her duty to the defendant. This chapter provides information on how to develop a niche practice involving providing personal injury evaluations. It reviews the education and training needed, describes the joys and challenges of this type of work, and offers guidance on the business aspects of this niche practice. Resources are shared to assist those with an interest in developing expertise in this area of practice.

Social Work Education and Training in Mental Health, Addictions, and Suicide: A Scoping Review

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Toula Kourgiantakis ◽  
Karen M. Sewell ◽  
Sandra McNeil ◽  
Eunjung Lee ◽  
Judith Logan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Work Education ◽  
And Training

‘It’s Not Really a Part of Standard Practice’: Institutional Silencing of Sexuality Within Australian Mental Health Settings

2021 ◽  
pp. 104973232110613
Author(s):  
Kristi Urry ◽  
Anna Chur-Hansen ◽  
Carole Khaw
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Mental Health Clinicians ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Mental Health Settings ◽  
Workplace Cultures

Research seeking to understand and improve sexuality-related practice in mental health settings has paid little attention to the institutional context in which clinicians’ practice is embedded. Through a social constructionist lens, we used thematic analysis to examine how 22 Australian mental health clinicians implicated the wider institutional context when discussing and making sense of sexuality-related silence within their work. Interviews were part of a study exploring participants’ perceptions of sexuality and sexual health in their work more generally. Broader silences that shaped and reinforced participants’ perceptions and practice choices were situated in professional education; workplace cultures; and the tools, procedures and policies that directed clinical practice. We argue that sexuality-related silence in mental health settings is located in the institutional context in which clinicians learn and work, and discuss how orienting to this broader context will benefit research and interventions to improve sexuality-related practice across health settings.

Essentials for Education and Training for Tomorrow's Physicians

2017 ◽  
pp. 230-252
Author(s):  
Timothy Edward A. Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Current Approach ◽  
Changing Times ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
And Training

Education and training of medical students and postgraduate residents must undergo a critical review in light of the changing times and attitudes. The demands of life in general are enough to provide significant stressors for today's students in addition to coping with pressures of balancing passing exams with meeting the expectations of family and instructors. This chapter will highlight the realities of the effect of the pressures of study on the students' mental health and well-being. It will then describe several changes that can be made to the way medical students are trained which then shifts the focus to personal growth and development and away from the traditional goals of knowledge, skills and competencies for the goal of passing the exams. In the end, this chapter will challenge readers and institutions to pause and reconsider the current approach to training of medical students.

Continuing Education Requirements Are Unnecessary and Are Not Relevant to My Professional Competence

2019 ◽  
pp. 95-100
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E. Barnett ◽  
Jeffrey Zimmerman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Clinical Effectiveness ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Mental Health Clinicians ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
License Renewal

Even the best trained and most highly skilled mental health clinicians must take active steps to maintain, update, and expand their knowledge and skills. Failure to do so on an ongoing basis places one’s professional competence at risk. This chapter explains the fragile nature of competence and the steps to take to help ensure the maintenance of ongoing clinical effectiveness. Enhancing one’s competence to add new skills and to expand one’s clinical practice into new areas also is addressed. Continuing requirements for license renewal are described and placed within the broader context of each mental health practitioner’s overarching ethical obligation to provide the highest quality professional services possible. Specific recommendations for achieving this goal are provided in the hope that mental health clinicians will incorporate them into their ongoing professional activities.

Why do patients attend and what do they want from the consultation?

2020 ◽  
pp. 14-19
Author(s):  
Des Spence
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Health Seeking Behaviour ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
Do No Harm ◽  
Developed World ◽  
And Training

Contrary to traditional thinking and teaching, it is not illness that dictates the health-seeking behaviour of a population but the healthcare system itself, and—most importantly—our actions as healthcare professionals. A scourge affecting clinical practice in the developed world today is the medicalization of all interactions, accompanied by overinvestigation, overdiagnosis, and overtreatment. The medical profession retains its traditional duty, wherever possible, to diagnose disease and treat or cure illness appropriately, also to comfort the sick, irrespective of the ability to cure. At the same time, a long-held principle of medicine at all levels is to do no harm, while at the same time supporting the maintenance of health and protecting those who are well. This chapter explains how maintaining the balance between these apparent conflicting precepts is a scarce skill that needs to be taught by example during the education and training of the modern doctor.

Leaving Lake Wobegon: firearm-related education and training for medical and mental health professionals is an essential competence

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianni Pirelli ◽  
Liza Gold
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Cultural Competence ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Gun Violence ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Average Effect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Training

Purpose Firearm-involved violence and suicide in the USA, often collectively referred to as “gun violence,” has been labeled a public health problem and an epidemic, and even an endemic by some. Many lawmakers, community groups, mainstream media outlets and professional organizations regularly address gun-related issues and frequently associate firearm violence with mental health. As a result, these groups often set forth positions, engage in discussions and promote policies that are at least partially based on the widely held but incorrect assumption that medical and mental health professionals are either inherently equipped or professionally trained to intervene with their patients and reduce gun deaths. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach Furthermore, notable proportions of medical and mental health professionals self-report a level of comfort engaging in firearm-specific interventions that is often disproportionate to their actual education and training in the area. This type of overconfidence bias has been referred to as the Lake Wobegon Effect, illusory superiority, the above average effect, the better-than average effect or the false uniqueness bias. While medical and mental health professionals need to serve on the front line of firearm-involved violence and suicide prevention initiatives, the vast majority have not actually received systematic, formal training on firearm-specific issues. Findings Therefore, many lack the professional and cultural competence to meet current and potential future in regard to addressing gun violence. In this paper, the authors discuss empirical studies that illustrate this reality and a novel model (i.e. the Know, Ask, Do framework) that medical and mental health professionals can use when firearm-related issues arise. In addition, the authors set forth considerations for clinicians to develop and maintain their professional and cultural competence related to firearms and firearm-related subcultures. Originality/value This paper provides empirical and conceptual support for medical and mental health programs to develop formal education and training related to guns, gun safety and gun culture. A framework is provided that can also assist medical and mental health professionals to develop and maintain their own professional and cultural competence.

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