Be Mindful: Training El Paso’s future psychiatrists
Rosemary Montañez
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — This month of May, ABC-7 continues its commitment to raising awareness about mental health with its Be Mindful initiative.
Mental health care continues to be in high demand across the United States and in El Paso. Medical experts largely attribute this rise to the COVID-19 pandemic, as more people started seeking mental health support, but it also exposed the shortage of mental health providers.
An assistant professor at Texas Tech Health El Paso told ABC-7 that medical residents are being trained to handle real-world scenarios.
Dr. Patricia Ortiz said she always wanted to study psychiatry after seeing firsthand how mental health conditions impacted those she loved. Now, she’s part of Texas Tech Health El Paso’s Psychiatry Department, which is responsible for training the next generation of psychiatrists, many of whom remain in the Borderland.
“I think students and people in general are seeing the increased demand, and they’re recognizing mental illness in their communities and their families, and they’re understanding that this is a really important field that that needs to be addressed, and so more people are rising to the challenge,” Ortiz said.
Andrew Serefine is a fourth-year medical student at Texas Tech Health El Paso. Before going to medical school, he was a licensed therapist for 15 years, working with patients dealing with mental health conditions.
He said back then, patients were forced to wait weeks before getting care because of the lack of services. He said much hasn’t changed.
“I do still hear that quite a bit that there needs to be more emphasis on mental health,” Serefine said.
Both Dr. Ortiz and Serefine explained that the stigma surrounding mental health is still very prevalent.
“I think there’s, certainly there’s, some stigma attached to it for people. And sometimes people just simply don’t want to talk about it. It can be uncomfortable,” Serefine said.
Ortiz explained that residents undergo two years of study work and then continue classroom training with standardized patients. Mental health training begins in the second year of medical school, when they learn about mental health disorders and illnesses.
Medical residents at TTHEP go into clinics and train in hospital settings. They learn how to interview patients, diagnose disorders and treat the most common ones.
“They learn what types of challenges these patients may face and the sort of sensitivity that is required when you’re talking to people who are struggling with mental health issues. So, I think it’s hard to prepare for them fully. You never know what’s going to happen, you know, what patient is going to present for you,” Dr. Ortiz.
She also said they undergo simulations with actors who pretend to have mental health disorders, including major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, etc.
She said this practice helps students gain real-world skills.
“I think throughout their education, cultural competence and empathy, good listening skills are always emphasized and are very important in their education. And so I think that they carry that through with them through all four years of their education. I think that’s very helpful when it comes to any patient, but in particular patients with mental illness,” Dr. Ortiz explained.
Dr. Ortiz said they also emphasize the importance of medical residents taking care of their own mental health during their studies.
“Making sure that they are taking care of themselves in terms of wellness, and I think that that helps them also to impart some sort of help to patients as well, in terms of making sure that they’re getting enough rest and exercising regularly. Eating healthy—these types of basic things are integral to, to our general health and, of course, our mental well-being,” she said.
Serefine said he does many things to take care of his mental well-being.
“Spend time with family, you know? Doing things with them, trying to make sure I always carve out time for downtime, really. So, with family, with, you know? Walks with the dog, making sure I got enough sleep, that type of thing.”
Dr. Ortiz also said medical residents are frequently broken into groups as they discuss different topics, like how they are taking care of themselves. She said it is important for people to continue having conversations about mental health to help break the stigma.
She hopes one day everyone will be able to talk about their mental health openly.
“Being open and being able to talk about, not being worried to say, ‘I’m going to go see my therapist next week’, you know? Just the way we say, ‘I have a doctor appointment or my annual checkup’, one day I hope we can get to that point where we have enough providers to do that for everyone and where everyone can feel comfortable talking about their physical and mental health.”
To read and find more mental health resources, click here.
