Evolving Roles and Needs of Psychiatry Chief Residents During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Psychiatry chief residents have diverse leadership roles within psychiatry residency programs. Chief residents have historically been viewed as "middle managers", and other leadership roles include administrative work, teaching, and advocacy for residents. Chief residents also help in managing the logistics of complex healthcare systems and mediating between many groups with conflicting needs and perspectives. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the functioning of psychiatry residency programs, and this has also led to the evolution of the roles of the chief residents in psychiatry. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the chief residents had to help with adapting to the changes in teaching and clinical work with residents and faculty. They had to liaison with various healthcare providers in making decisions related to COVID-19 in residency programs. Along with these changes, chief residents also had to advocate for the wellbeing and needs of their fellow residents. This perspective article is written by authors who have served during or after the transition to the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss our experiences as chief residents as well as evolving roles and wellness needs of chief residents in psychiatry. Based on the administrative, advocacy, academic and middle management roles of chief residents in psychiatry and their wellbeing, we also make recommendations for support and interventions needed for chief residents in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Enhancing Psychiatry Education through Podcasting: Learning from the Listener Experience

OBJECTIVE

Podcasts have recently been introduced into psychiatry education, despite limited evidence evaluating podcasting in medical education. PsychEd is an educational, publicly available podcast targeting junior learners in psychiatry. This study characterized PsychEd's listeners and the podcast's role in their education.

METHODS

The study involved a mixed-methods survey, followed by semi-structured phone interviews with respondents. There were 97 survey responders in total, of whom 9 participated in a telephone interview. Survey responses were coded as interval data and analyzed descriptively using statistical software. Interviews were transcribed and coded for emergent themes using a grounded theory model.

RESULTS

PsychEd listeners represented an interprofessional audience, with 46 respondents (48%) being physicians or physicians in training, and 34 (35%) being allied mental health professionals. All respondents (100%) rated the podcast as "helpful" or "very helpful" for general knowledge. Listeners were attracted to PsychEd for the auditory learning format, the opportunity to review existing knowledge, the focus on core topics, the Canadian expertise, and the presentation of "clinical pearls." Respondents highlighted valuable qualities of a psychiatry podcast: conversational, case-based, narrative approach, longer episodes (i.e., 30-60 minutes) as compared to other medical specialties, and a clinical focus. Furthermore, they identified podcasts as an opportunity for shared interprofessional curricula.

CONCLUSION

This study is the first to examine the motivations and experiences of listeners of a psychiatry educational podcast. The findings support existing literature on the benefits of podcasts in medical education. Future studies should explore the impact of podcasts on learning and behaviors.

Effect of Some Acrylate—Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Copolymers as Superplasticizers on the Mechanical and Surface Properties of Portland Cement Pastes

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) pastes with added superplasticizer were made using water/cement weight ratios of standard consistency. Three types of superplasticizer based on acrylate—poly(ethylene glycol) copolymers were used. The pastes were hydrated for various time lengths and the mechanical characteristics of the hardened cement pastes were studied and related to their pore structures. It was found that the addition of the superplasticizers to OPC improved the mechanical properties of the hardened pastes for all hydration lengths. The addition of such superplasticizers to OPC resulted in a decrease in the specific surface areas and total pore volumes of the hardened superplasticized cement pastes relative to the corresponding hardened neat cement pastes.

Value of intraprostatic injection of zinc and vitamin C and of ultrasound application in infertile men with chronic prostatitis

Seventy infertile men with chronic prostatitis were treated by prostatic massage and wide-spectrum chemotherapy as basic treatment to which intraprostatic injection of zinc or vitamin C with or without ultrasound application was added as a new line of treatment. Comparison showed no significant improvement of the additive treatment over the conventional treatment used alone. Pus cells in the expressed prostatic smear diminished significantly after treatment, which was associated with significant increase of percentage of motile spermatozoa and significant decrease of abnormal forms. Bacterial flora was studied in comparison with findings in 20 cases of infertile males without prostatitis; staphylococci predominated in both patient and control groups.