Innovative APA Program Teaches Medical Students About HIV Psychiatry

Ten minority medical students traveled to APA's fall committee meetings in Washington, D.C., last month as part of an in-depth training program in the neuropsychiatric and mental health aspects of HIV/AIDS.

APA selected the future physicians to participate in a fourth-year medical school elective in the field of HIV psychiatry. The fellowship, which began in September, is funded through the APA/SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Minority Fellowship Program (Psychiatric News, March 5).

Most of the students' training takes place at one of four sites—Columbia University, University of Miami, Harvard University, and University of Cincinnati. Each student is assigned for 12 hours a week to a psychiatrist who specializes in treating individuals with HIV infection or AIDS. In addition, they receive one hour of individual supervision and one hour of group supervision each week.

Psychiatrists at each participating site design the content of their program.

The students' Washington trip was for another component of the elective—two days of intensive training in issues at the interface of HIV disease and mental health organized by the APA Committee on AIDS and the APA Office of HIV Psychiatry. The students learned about topics such as HIV-related psychosis, examinations to assess cognitive function, somatic disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, and HIV issues in special populations.▪