Name
Building Better Care Teams from the Ground Up: Advancing Integrated Care Through Behavioral Health-Focused Resident Training
Description

Research demonstrates that medical residents gain substantial benefits from working closely with behavioral health providers, enhancing both their behavioral health competencies and their readiness for practice within integrated teams. Subsequently, behavioral health training has become increasingly prioritized in residency education. In this presentation, we will share how behavioral health faculty at Geisinger Health System have implemented behavioral health training within the system’s pediatric and family medicine residencies. We will explore the similarities and differences of the residency-specific training approaches, as shaped by faculty background, program needs, and clinical workflows. Finally, we will highlight barriers we’ve encountered, adaptations made based on resident feedback data, and lessons learned to support the re-imagining of integrated care training across diverse residency programs and healthcare delivery systems.

Speakers
Carrie Massura, Ph.D.
Maggie McCormack, Psy.D.
Content Level
All Audience
Tags
Pediatrics, Training/Supervision
Session Type
Concurrent
Objective 1
Discuss how to improve the quality of medical residents’ behavioral health training using traditional didactic and experiential methods.
Objective 2
Describe specific strategies for increasing medical residents’ engagement in their behavioral health training.
Objective 3
Consider how to navigate common implementation barriers for behavioral health faculty involved in medical resident education (e.g., time for preparing lectures, balancing training with other duties).
Content Reference 1

Foster, K.E., Shah, D., Plunkett, Q. et al. (2024). Understanding faculty perspectives on health equity curriculum implementation in graduate medical education: A qualitative study. BMC Medical Education, 24, Article 1287. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-06276-3

Content Reference 2

Gardner, E., Owens, R. W., Fortenberry, K. T., Pippitt, K., Ose, D. J., & Cochella, S. (2024). Evaluation of enhanced mental and behavioral health training for family medicine residents: A research protocol. BMC Primary Care, 25, Article 434. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-024-02656-2

Content Reference 3

Gottschlich, E. A., Kist, T. W., & Haftel, H.M. (2025). Graduating pediatric residents’ preparedness to provide mental health care for children and adolescents. Academic Pediatrics, 25(7). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2025.102858

Content Reference 4

Green, C., Leyenaar, J. K., Nuncio, B., & Leslie, L. K. (2022). Association of behavioral and mental health professionals in continuity clinic with resident‑reported competence. The Journal of Pediatrics, 248, 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.05.012

Content Reference 5

Spinelli, S. C., Ben Khallouq, B. A., & Chen, J. G. (2022). Brief focused interprofessional encounters in a developmental‑behavioral rotation facilitate pediatric resident experiences, foster interprofessional relationships, and improve confidence in mental health and high‑risk developmental conditions. Clinical Pediatrics, 61(8), 551–559. https://doi.org/10.1177/00099228221095608