Alcohol Withdrawal and Lithium Toxicity: A Novel Psychiatric Mannequin-Based Simulation Case for Medical Students

Alcohol Withdrawal and Lithium Toxicity: A Novel Psychiatric Mannequin-Based Simulation Case for Medical Students

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Introduction High-fidelity mannequin-based simulation is frequently used to compliment medical student education during clinical clerkships.However, psychiatric educators have not broadly adopted this modality, focusing rather on standardized patient actors.We developed and delivered a simulation case involving a patient with alcohol withdrawal and lithium toxicity followed by a debriefing session to medical students at 1307 rough country the end of their psychiatric clerkship.

Methods The case involves a 40-year-old male truck driver with a history of bipolar disorder who presents to the emergency room after a truck accident.The patient is in alcohol withdrawal, which responds to benzodiazepines.A workup reveals that the patient also has lithium toxicity related to the co-ingestion of lithium and naproxen for pain.

Participants learn to evaluate and treat alcohol withdrawal, consider medical comorbidities and legal consequences, and complete a brief intervention for substance use.This case requires a simulation mannequin.Results To date, 150 second-, third-, and fourth-year medical students have participated in this case and 76 have been surveyed.

Participants have provided a postsession rating of 4.49 on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree) on a question about enjoyment, and 3.93 on a question about confidence with evaluation and treatment of patients in alcohol withdrawal.

Discussion Psychiatric education currently underutilizes mannequin-based simulation compared to other medical disciplines.Mannequin simulation is feasible and mitigated gall effective in psychiatric education, especially in cases involving medical complexity, as shown in this novel case involving a patient with alcohol withdrawal and lithium toxicity.