Psychiatry

As a psychiatrist, I enjoy teaching PA students during their Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine clinical rotation. But recently, I noticed something odd. While my students were studying for their end of rotation exam using another Qbank provided by their program, the question and explanation seemed to reflect the old diagnostic criteria from psychiatry’s handbook of diagnosis, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). That’s not necessarily odd, in and of itself. But then it happened again. And again. For example, one explanation said that ADHD diagnosis needed symptoms present prior to age 7, but that was the old criteria from DSM-IV-TR (fourth edition, text revised version of the DSM). The newest DSM-5 (fifth edition) criteria sets the threshold to before age 12 instead.

Just as pediatricians need to bring up uncomfortable conversations about sex to keep their patients safe and healthy, isn’t it equally the responsibility of physicians to bring up diet and nutrition?

“Keep your minds open,” the dean announced at M3 orientation, “maybe you’ve always dreamed of becoming an orthopedic surgeon but will fall in love with psychiatry.” As freshly minted third year medical students with wrinkle free and yet to be coffee/pen/bodily fluid stained short white coats we entered clinical rotations much like undifferentiated cells, eager to be shaped and influenced as we transformed into the future physicians we were to become. However, for many students, choosing a specialty is not as easy as dreaming and falling in love. There is a fine line three quarters into M3 year when the reaction to uncertainty about choosing a specialty changes from a response of “you’ve got time” to a reaction that may make you feel like somehow over a few short months you became defective. In the midst of the uncertainty and doubt you then receive an email that it’s time to schedule your fourth year electives and are advised to “choose them wisely” as you are reminded that residency applications will be due just three months into the year. If that story sounds all too familiar of you anticipate that this could happen to you, don’t panic, you’re not alone, let’s get through this together.

Reviewed March 2024 Wernicke Encephalopathy Sample question: A 53-year-old woman with chronic alcohol use disorder presents with confusion and blurred vision. Her vital signs are within normal limits. Physical examination reveals a wide-based gait, inability to abduct her right eye fully, nystagmus, and difficulty with memory. Her alcohol level is 0.0 mg/dL. Which of the read more…

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Many of our savvy customers realize intuitively that there is a treasure trove of performance data accumulating in the background with each new question answered by each of our users (40,933,037 total questions answered, as of today).