PsychEd Episode 29: Cultural Psychiatry with Dr. Eric Jarvis

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This episode covers the topic of cultural psychiatry with expert guest Dr. Eric Jarvis, Staff Psychiatrist and Director of the Cultural Consultation Service and the First Episode Psychosis Program at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Quebec and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University.

The learning objectives for this episode are as follows:

By the end of this episode, you should be able to…

1. Define culture
2. Describe how culture affects psychiatric care
3. Outline the goal and structure of a Cultural Formulation Interview
4. Evaluate clinical scenarios to determine whether to employ the Cultural Formulation Interview or seek a cultural consultation
5. Define the three types of cultural concepts of distress, and compare these with DSM-5 nosology
6. Discuss the concept of cultural competency 
7. Explore the role of advocacy in psychiatric practice

Guest expert: Dr. Eric Jarvis

Hosts: Dr. Sarah Hanafi (PGY3), Audrey Le (CC4)

Audio editing by Dr. Sarah Hanafi (PGY3)

Show notes by Dr. Sarah Hanafi (PGY3)

Interview Content:

• Introductions: 0:28
• Learning objectives: 3:01
• Definition of cultural psychiatry: 3:52
• Definition of culture: 6:50
• Disparities in mental health outcomes 12:48
• The Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) 15:59
• Cultural concepts of distress 34:28
• Cultural competency 40:46
• Role of advocacy in psychiatry 48:04
• Tips for those interested and training opportunities 51:26
• Closing 61:01

Resources:

• McGill Summer Program in Social and Cultural Psychiatry
• McGill Advanced Study Institute in Cultural Psychiatry
• Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture
• Cultural Psychiatry Day

References:

• Cultural Formulation. (2017). In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.
• Kirmayer, L. J., Fung, K., Rousseau, C., Lo, H. T., Menzies, P., Guzder, J., . . . Mckenzie, K. (2020). Guidelines for Training in Cultural Psychiatry. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 070674372090750. doi:10.1177/0706743720907505
• Kirmayer, L. J., Kronick, R., & Rousseau, C. (2018). Advocacy as Key to Structural Competency in Psychiatry. JAMA Psychiatry, 75(2), 119. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.3897 
• Kirmayer, L.J., Rousseau, C., Jarvis, G.E. and Guzder, J. (2008). The Cultural Context of Clinical Assessment. In Psychiatry (eds A. Tasman, J. Kay, J.A. Lieberman, M.B. First and M. Maj). doi:10.1002/9780470515167.ch4 

CPA Note: The views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the Canadian Psychiatric Association.

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