The doctoring curriculum at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine: Leadership and participant roles for psychiatry faculty

Objective: The authors describe in detail the 3-year model of the Doctoring curriculum plus an elective fourth-year Doctoring course at University of California, Davis School of Medicine (UCDSOM) and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine and the critical role for psychiatry faculty leadership and participation. Methods: The authors present a review of curricular materials and course operations for the different Doctoring courses for first-, second-, third-, and fourth-year curriculum. The authors describe the role of psychiatry faculty in both leadership and in group facilitation. Results: The Doctoring curriculum offers case-based, small-group learning that relies heavily on standardized patients to teach core content around doctor-patient communication, ethics, behavioral medicine, and counseling approaches. There are frequent psychosocial issues woven in to these encounters. Psychiatry faculty members and other mental health professionals are well-prepared by virtue of their training to lead small group discussions and facilitate the supportive elements of the small groups in medical education. Conclusion: The Doctoring curriculum is both a biopsychosocial educational endeavor and a high-visibility leadership opportunity for the Department of Psychiatry. Other medical schools and departments of psychiatry may wish to pursue similar roles in their didactic programs.