Can scope-of-practice transfer psychiatrists be up for their job? A cross-sectional study of clinical competence status and related factors

BACKGROUND: The great economic and social changes have resulted in the prevalence of mental disorder increasing year by year in China. Mental health medical service resources of China are significantly insufficient. The program of Transfer Training for psychiatrist was launched in China in October 2015. Thousands of physicians completed the transfer training and obtained certificates. To date, there is little evidence to identify the status and related factors of clinical competence among scope-of-practice transfer psychiatrists in China. PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the status and related factors of clinical competence among scope-of-practice transfer psychiatrists of Sichuan Province, China. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The sample was composed of 291 physicians who certificated the transfer training. Data were collected between September and November 2021, using self-made questionnaire with a total of 22 items to record demographic characteristics, practice status and workplace of participants. Descriptive statistics analysis, independent sample T-test, one-way ANOVA, Spearman rank correlation, and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The clinical competence of participants score was (8.02 ± 1.48). Significant differences were found in clinical competence scores among: the subgroups of practice category, reasons for attending in the transfer training for psychiatrists, whether transfer to/ add mental health practice registration, whether engage in mental / psychological work after training, whether the level of transfer training meeting participants’ job needs, whether the level of transfer training meeting their theoretical learning needs, whether the level of transfer training meeting their clinical practice needs, salary change compared with pre-training, whether join in continuing education after training, whether wanted to join in continuing education after training, whether the workplace before training has mental / psychological department, whether the workplace after training has mental / psychological department, institutional nature, institutional level and institutional affiliation. Multiple regression analysis identified that level of transfer training meeting participants’ job needs, level of transfer training meeting their clinical practice needs, Whether the workplace before training has mental / psychological department, whether wanted to join in continuing education after training, institutional nature were the contributors of clinical competence. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that clinical competence of scope-of-practice transfer psychiatrists needed to be improved. Whether workplace has mental/psychological departments was an important factor of clinical competence. Besides, interest of physicians is another crucial factor for their clinical competence. The continuing education of those psychiatrists may be one effective measure considering their factual working conditions.