To the Editor
We thank Drs. Marienfeld and Rohrbaugh [1] for highlighting the unique aspects of the Yale Global Mental Health Program. We agree that the web-based search strategy we used has important limitations. It is possible that a study design with multiple, potentially redundant streams of data collection (e.g., similar to that which has been employed to measure HIV treatment adherence [2]) might have greater sensitivity for detecting the range of opportunities available to psychiatry residents interested in global mental health. Such a study might include a web-based search protocol, a survey of program directors, and a survey of graduating residents, with prespecified algorithms to consistently reconcile the conflicting data we might get from different sources in a single program. To our knowledge, such a study design, although appealing, has not yet been attempted.
Footnotes
Disclosures On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
References
- 1.Marienfeld C, Rohrbaugh R. A call for better methodology for global mental health educational program reviews. Acad Psychiatry. 2015 doi: 10.1007/s40596-015-0317-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Liu H, Golin CE, Miller LG, Hays RD, Beck CK, Sanandaji S, et al. A comparison study of multiple measures of adherence to HIV protease inhibitors. Ann Intern Med. 2001;134(10):968–77. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-134-10-200105150-00011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
