Mental Health Competencies in Family Medicine Residency Training

Abstract

In recent years, the integration of mental health into primary care has become a global trend, as it is recognized to be effective for providing appropriate treatment, improving outcomes, and using resources appropriately. Therefore, in many countries, mental health education in primary care has been developed and delivered. However, systematic training on mental health for family physicians has not been sufficiently provided in Japan. We performed a scoping review in order to clarify the mental health competencies of primary care physicians by analyzing the educational curricula in other countries using thematic analysis. The competencies extracted were comprehensive and classified into three domains: "general competencies in primary care," "general competencies in mental health in primary care," and "specific competencies in mental health in primary care". In the future, it will be necessary to create a competency list based on the reported data and formulate a model curriculum based on the current situation in Japan.