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Overcoming Stigma: Involving Families in Medical Student and Psychiatric Residency Education

Received August 30, 2006; revised November 16, 2006, February 14, 2007, and March 5, 2007; accepted March 22, 2007. The authors are affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, and the Department of Biology, Natural Science, and Mathematics at Indiana University East in Richmond, Indiana. Address correspondence to Dr. Alan Schmetzer, Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, 1111 West Tenth St., A-212, Indianapolis, IN 46202-4800; aschmetz{at}iupui.edu (e-mail).

OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of this article is to present a possible mechanism for increasing communication about psychiatric matters such as diagnoses, treatment, and stigma between the physicians, including psychiatrists, and the families of persons with mental illness through a NAMI presentation. METHODS: Included are a description of a stigma-reduction presentation to junior medical students; information about an instrument to evaluate pre- and postclerkship student attitudes; and a discussion of consumer and family participation in the education of first-year psychiatric residents. RESULTS: Moving the NAMI presentation from the freshman year to the junior year rotation and first year resident experience has been more efficacious, possibly because clinically oriented students and medical and psychiatric residents seem more receptive to communication about stigma and the family situation. CONCLUSION: The educational collaborations between advocacy groups and academia show promise for increasing communication about psychiatric disorders, treatment, and stigma issues between families and psychiatric patients.

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