Psychiatry

Guidance on Entering Into Agreements With Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners

Guidance on Entering Into Agreements With Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners This article first appeared in Psychiatric News. Cheryl D. Wills , M.D. Published Online: 13 Sep 2023  Because of the shortage of psychiatrists in this country, an increasing number of psychiatrists are interested in entering into collaboration agreements with nurse practitioners or are already working with them. Here are some points to consider. While physicians are familiar with patient safety standards, quality of care, and accountability for their profession, they may be confused…

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Points to Consider When Asked to Write Emotional Support Animal Advocacy Letter

Points to Consider When Asked to Write Emotional Support Animal Advocacy Letter This article first appeared in Psychiatric News. Cheryl D. Wills , M.D. Published Online: 27 Jun 2023  As in any clinical situation, psychiatrists should proceed with care when patients ask them to write an emotional support animal advocacy letter. Psychiatric training prepares us to serve in many capacities. We evaluate patients, teach, practice psychotherapy and psychopharmacology, engage in research, have administrative responsibilities, and collaborate with other medical professionals. One shortcoming…

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Addressing Structural Racism: an update from APA

Addressing Structural Racism: an update from APA This article first appeared in Current Psychiatry. Wills CD. Addressing Structural Racism: an update from APA, Curr Psychiatry. 2021, 20:39-46 A new Task Force focuses on dismantling racism in the APA and psychiatry The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, which as of mid-February 2021 had caused more than 486,000 deaths in the United States, has changed our lives forever. Elders and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) have been overrepresented among those lost.…

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Barriers to Clozapine Use for Competency Restoration and the Value of Further Study

Barriers to Clozapine Use for Competency Restoration and the Value of Further Study This article first appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Wills CD. Barriers to Clozapine Use for Competency Restoration and the Value of Further Study. The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. 2021 115-20 (in press) Hospital-based restoration of adjudicative competence can be challenging, especially for patients who have treatment-resistant psychosis. Clozapine, which has helped many such…

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Using Mental Health Podcasts for Public Education

Using Mental Health Podcasts for Public Education This article first appeared in Academic Psychiatry. Wills, C.D. Using Mental Health Podcasts for Public Education. Acad Psychiatry 44, 621–623 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-020-01268-z Advances in medical and technological knowledge have changed psychiatry graduate medical education. Residents are required to learn and apply volumes of complex information and to become proficient in clinical service delivery to meet the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competency requirements in psychiatry [1]. The information gleaned from didactic education, supervision,…

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AAPL Advocacy Through Education

AAPL Advocacy Through Education This article first appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Cheryl D. Wills, Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online Jun 2019, 47 (2) 150-154; DOI: 10.29158/JAAPL.003848-19 There’s a time for debate and a time for consensus. There’s a time for advocacy and time for first principles. Hon. Judge Anthony Kennedy Advocacy is important in psychiatric practice. In the United States, the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires general psychiatry residents…

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Caring for Juveniles with Mental Disorders in Adult Corrections Facilities

Caring for Juveniles with Mental Disorders in Adult Corrections Facilities This article first appeared in The International Review of Psychiatry. Wills, CD. Caring for Juveniles with Mental Disorders in Adult Corrections Facilities. Int Rev Psychiatry, 2017, 29:25-33. Although juveniles have developmental, educational, healthcare, and rehabilitation needs that differ from adults, thousands of them have been confined in adult corrections facilities in the past 30 years. This manuscript will review how and why juveniles end up in adult corrections facilities, who…

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The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Pharmacological Treatment of Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder

The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Pharmacological Treatment of Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder This article first appeared in The American Journal of Psychiatry. Reus VI, Fochtmann LJ, Bukstein O, Eyler E, Hilty DM, Horvitz-Lennon M. . . Wills, C. The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Pharmacological Treatment of Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder. Am J Psychiatry 2017, 175:86-9. At its July 2017 meeting, The APA Board of Trustees approved the APA Practice Guideline Writing Group’s“Practice…

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The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline on the use of antipsychotics to treat agitation or psychosis in patients with dementia

The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline on the use of antipsychotics to treat agitation or psychosis in patients with dementia This article first appeared in The American Journal of Psychiatry. Reus VI, Fochtmann LJ, Eyler E, Hilty DM, Horvitz-Lennon M, Jibson MD. . . Wills, C. The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline on the use of antipsychotics to treat agitation or psychosis in patients with dementia. Am J Psychiatry. 2016, 173:543-546. At its December 2015 meeting, The APA Board of…

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