Managing Uncertainty: A Novel Approach to Undifferentiated Mental Disorders

Friday, September 11, 2015 - Toronto

Continuing Medical Education - Mainpro-C Workshop

FACILITATOR: Dr. Jose Silveira (Read bio)

Registration: 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Workshop: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
A light breakfast will be provided

Program Description:

Family physicians are often the first and only point of contact for patients with mental disorders, which often present in an undifferentiated manner. This lack of differentiation and the frequently serious nature of these conditions often evokes anxiety in the treating physician. Traditional diagnostic psychiatric models used in teaching medical students and residents may not be congruent with actual practice.

This seminar will introduce participants to a non-diagnostic model of assessing and managing mental disorders in primary care focusing on risk, functional Impairment and critical symptoms. This highly organized approach to assessment and management will target the physician's attention on the following questions in order of priority: What do I need to do today? What should I address soon? What do I need to think about over the longer term? The premise of this model is that the diagnosis of mental disorders often declares itself over time but that patients often require treatment before there is diagnostic clarification. Concentrating on diagnostically focused assessment may result in a delay between when practitioners identify problems and when they actually feel able to intervene. Such delays can result in the missing of key opportunities to provide treatment when critical treatment decisions need to be made. Lack of diagnostic certainty and the idea that treatment is dependent on it likely increase physician anxiety and discomfort in treating these conditions.

We will organize our thinking around assessment and management to quickly and clearly identify potential risks to patients and others, delineate the patients functional impairments that may require clinical attention and identify critical symptoms. These finite categories will guide information gathering and behaviour. This session will be highly interactive and will use clinical cases to both explore and apply the model.  

After active engagement in this program, participants will be better able to:

• Learn a novel approach to the management of mental disorders organized around risk, function and symptoms (RFS)
• Apply the RFS model to clinical cases
• Be able to apply the RFS model in clinical practice
• Learn the critical risks, functional impairments and symptoms of distress that may go undetected in the undifferentiated presentation of mental disorders

FEE: $245.00 (HST included)

Please note that on-site registration will not be permitted.

CREDITS
This program meets the accreditation criteria of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and is accredited for 3.0 CFPC Mainpro-C Credits.

CANCELLATION POLICY
The OCFP reserves the right to cancel sessions due to unforeseen circumstances or insufficient advance registration. In the event of a cancellation made by the OCFP, a full refund will be given to the registrants. However, the OCFP cannot accept responsibility for out-of-pocket expenses due to cancellation of a session. Cancellations made more than 15 business days prior to the date of the event will be refunded, less a 25% administration fee. No refunds will be provided after this deadline.

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