My psychiatry rotation allowed me to gain valuable experience evaluating and managing patients with a wide range of psychiatric disorders while in CPEP. Throughout this rotation, I developed skills in conducting psychiatric interviews, performing mental status examinations, assessing suicide risk, developing differential diagnoses, and creating treatment plans. I cared for patients with conditions such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, psychosis, substance use disorders, and acute suicidal ideations. This rotation also strengthened my understanding of psychiatric medications, crisis intervention, and the importance of recognizing how psychiatric illnesses affect aspects of patients’ daily functioning.
Something new that I was exposed to during this rotation was the complexity of psychiatric evaluations and how much information can be obtained through effective communication and observation. Unlike my previous rotations, the patient’s history, collateral information from family members or friends, and mental status examination often played a larger role in establishing a diagnosis than laboratory tests or imaging. Many patients presented with multiple psychiatric diagnoses, substance use, and significant psychosocial stressors, requiring a comprehensive evaluation to determine the most appropriate level of care. Initially, I found it challenging to distinguish between similar psychiatric disorders and determine whether symptoms were related to an underlying psychiatric condition, substance use, or an acute medical condition. But after seeing multiple patients with varying concerns and being exposed to similar conditions, I became more confident in organizing psychiatric histories, performing suicide risk assessments, recognizing differences in presentations, and developing safe treatment plans.
Throughout this rotation, I also gained valuable exposure to psychiatric pharmacology, including initiating antidepressants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, and medications for sleep disturbances while learning to consider each medication’s indications, adverse effects, and monitoring requirements. I learned the importance of obtaining collateral information from family members, as their history contributed a lot to the patient’s course of treatment. Obtaining a psychiatric history was different from my prior rotations in general medicine, as I was discussing more psychosocial aspects rather than the medical aspects. It allowed me to view a different perspective of medicine and use a different approach when communicating with the patients. I participated in patient interviews, documentation, case discussions, patient education, and discharge planning, all of which strengthened my communication skills and confidence when discussing sensitive topics such as suicidal ideation, psychosis, trauma, and substance use.
Overall, this rotation was a rewarding experience that significantly strengthened my clinical reasoning, communication skills, and confidence in evaluating and managing psychiatric patients. I gained a greater appreciation for the importance of empathy, active listening and building rapport with the patients I saw, as these skills were essential in evaluating psychiatric conditions. As I have completed my psychiatry rotation, I feel more comfortable performing psychiatric assessments and recognizing psychiatric emergencies to provide safe, patient centered care.
