Activity

Activity ID

10974

Expires

May 1, 2026

Format Type

Journal-based

CME Credit

1

Fee

$30

CME Provider: AMA Journal of Ethics

Description of CME Course

Background: Interprofessional collaboration is key to reducing overincarceration of people with severe mental illness. One collaboration model emphasizes cognitive tasks: becoming familiar with values and knowledge of other disciplines. Another model emphasizes calibrating expertise to the demands of the workplace. This study assesses the 2 models in the case of psychiatrists in a multidisciplinary mental health court who learned to divert people with psychiatric disease from jail. Methods: Ethnographic research was conducted over 4 years with the staff of a US mental health court. Interviews with 3 psychiatrists and observations of 87 staff meetings and probation review hearings were recorded, transcribed, entered into a database management program, and coded. Results: Psychiatrists did not need deep familiarity with the values or skills of legal professionals to divert people with psychiatric disease from incarceration. They successfully inserted their expertise through teaching about pharmaceutics, suggesting interventions based on diagnosis and behavior, and shifting the collective assessment of defendants from a punitive to a therapeutic framework. Conclusion: Reducing overincarceration of people with severe mental illness depends on interprofessional collaboration.

Disclaimers

1. This activity is accredited by the American Medical Association.
2. This activity is free to AMA members.

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ABMS Member Board Approvals by Type
More Information
Commercial Support?
No

NOTE: If a Member Board has not deemed this activity for MOC approval as an accredited CME activity, this activity may count toward an ABMS Member Board’s general CME requirement. Please refer directly to your Member Board’s MOC Part II Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment Program Requirements.

Educational Objectives

1. Explain a new or unfamiliar viewpoint on a topic of ethical or professional conduct
2. Evaluate the usefulness of this information for health care practice, teaching, or conduct
3. Decide whether and when to apply the new information to health care practice, teaching, or conduct

Keywords

Ethics, Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Law and Medicine

Competencies

Medical Knowledge, Professionalism

CME Credit Type

AMA PRA Category 1 Credit

DOI

10.1001/amajethics.2023.353

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