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Objective Evidence-based treatments for mental health concerns include psychopharmacological and psychosocial approaches. Pediatrics organizations indicate psychopharmacology needs to be a component of training. This study investigated the status of training in psychotropic medication prescribing through a national survey of pediatric chief residents. Method Pediatric chief residents (one per residency program) completed a survey (response rate = 60.2%, 127/211) about their attitudes, knowledge, comfort, practice, and training around prescribing psychotropic medication in primary care. Quantitative data included descriptive statistics and correlational analyses to explore relationships between variables; qualitative data were examined through classical content analysis. Results Almost half of respondents reported prescribing sometimes or often. Frequency of prescribing varied by mental health condition, with highest frequency for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. About two-thirds of respondents reported having at least some/average knowledge. About half of respondents reported being uncomfortable with prescribing; respondents were most uncomfortable with prescribing antianxiety, mood stabilizing, and antipsychotic medications, and with discontinuing medication; about half indicated their competence in progress-monitoring needed improvement. Concurrent psychosocial treatment was perceived as very useful, although often inaccessible to patients. Prescribing frequency was related to knowledge, comfort, progress-monitoring competence, and training quality; training quality was related to knowledge and comfort. Over 60% rated their training as not at all or only somewhat adequate. Conclusions Pediatric chief residents reported having knowledge of psychotropic medication issues, but experience a general discomfort, especially with discontinuing medication, and with medications other than stimulants. Most thought their training needed improvement in terms of comprehensiveness and clinical practice experiences.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that pediatricians be trained to collaborate with school personnel and has stated that inadequate collaboration across systems is a contributor to suboptimal health care. Mail-based surveys were used to target chief residents of all pediatric residency programs in the United States (N = 214). Participants completed a 25-item survey inquiring about training, attitudes, and practices in collaborating with schools. A 68.6% response rate was obtained. The majority of respondents (73.5%) view collaboration with school personnel as important or very important and believe it improves overall patient care. However, 30.7% of respondents reported to never have collaborated with school personnel, and 47.8% reported doing so only once or twice a year. Further, 41.3% of respondents felt that school collaboration is not feasible for most pediatricians due to barriers including limited time, scheduling issues, and knowing how to contact relevant school personnel. Most respondents reported that school collaboration was rarely addressed in residency training.

Background Interagency collaboration between community and school settings is one mechanism to serve the complex needs of pediatric patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Purpose We surveyed a national sample of community-based providers to examine their perspectives on interagency collaboration with school-based providers when serving pediatric patients with ASD. Method Medical and behavioral/mental health professionals practicing in community settings were recruited. Participants (N = 116) completed an online survey about their interagency collaboration experiences with schools. Results The majority of the sample reported engaging in interagency collaboration with school-based providers; however, the frequency was limited and was associated with the number of years working in the field. Community-based providers wanted more didactic and hands-on experiences in collaboration. Barriers and facilitators were related to schools' administration, school personnels’ training in ASD, information exchange, and delineating between identification systems. Discussion and conclusion Our findings highlight the importance of leadership support and the need for innovative training experiences to support school-community interagency collaboration.