Preparing Leaders in Primary Care Transformation: A Mental Health Curriculum

The demand for mental health services is rising, and given the continued shortage of mental health specialists, primary care remains a critical setting for mental health treatment. Training emerging leaders in primary care to integrate interprofessional behavioral health services into care teams can help meet this demand. The Community Primary Care Champions fellowship developed a curriculum for primary care physicians and physician associates to lead primary care teams in addressing mental health within their clinical settings. This mental health curriculum for twenty-four fellows was led by a single faculty member during a part-time year-long fellowship. Seven modules (each 50–110 min long) covered critical topics through a mix of didactic learning, group learning, and a case-based summative independent activity. Evaluation included a pre- and post-assessment of knowledge and confidence, a one-year post-fellowship assessment, and focus groups. Self-assessed knowledge and confidence in key knowledge/skills/behavior improved after the fellowship with large effect sizes, and self-assessed knowledge about the Collaborative Care model for behavioral health integration and confidence in assessing suicide risk persisted one year after the fellowship compared to pre-fellowship. Our mental health curriculum demonstrates increases in self-assessed knowledge and confidence. It can be adapted for other graduate medical education settings to prepare learners to lead primary care transformation.