A Winning Case? Assessing the Effectiveness of a Mock Trial in a General Psychiatry Residency Program

• Published in: Academic psychiatry 2019-10, Vol.43 (5), p.538-541
• Main Authors: Baker, Sarah E., Ogundipe, Kehinde, Sterwald, Christopher, Van Enkevort, Erin A., Brenner, Adam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Behavioral Objectives; Court hearings & proceedings; Curriculum; Didacticism; District attorneys; Drug administration; Educational objectives; Emergency medical care; Evidence; Feature: Educational Case Report; Feedback; Forensic Medicine - education; Forensic psychiatry; Forensic Psychiatry - education; Gynecology; Humans; Internship and Residency; Judges; Law Related Education; Lawyers; Lecture Method; Medical Education; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental Health; Mental health care; Obstetrics; Participation; Persuasive Discourse; Psychiatrists; Psychiatry; Psychiatry - education; Roles; Seminars; Skills; Trials; Vignettes; Witnesses
• ISSN: 1042-9670; 1545-7230
• DOI: 10.1007/s40596-019-01065-3

There is only one published study about the effectiveness of mock trial activities within psychiatry residency education, which showed that a forensic lecture series culminating in a mock trial led to improvement in residents’ scores on a knowledge-based exam on family law [10]. The Center for Perinatal Medicine and the Law at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine presented a 2-h abbreviated mock trial during an obstetrics and gynecology Grand Rounds. A judge may order that a patient receive temporary involuntary inpatient mental health treatment if a judge or jury finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the patient is likely to cause serious harm to himself or others or is “experiencing substantial mental or physical deterioration” that renders him unable to meet basic needs, such as “food, clothing, health, or safety” [13]. In order for the court to authorize administration of psychoactive medication over a patient’s objection, it must be proven, by clear and convincing evidence, that the patient has been ordered to receive inpatient mental health treatment, that the patient presents a danger to himself or others, that the proposed treatment is in the best interests of the patient, and that the patient lacks the capacity to make a decision regarding the medication [14].