Trainees Unprepared for Advances in Psychedelic Medicine: A Survey Study

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to characterize attitudes and identify gaps in trainee knowledge and education that may impact the field’s readiness for the reemergence of psychedelic use in psychiatry. A two-part survey was sent out targeting medical and allied professional trainees who may interact with patients using or planning to use psychedelics therapeutically. Collected data for part one characterized demographics, sources of information, attitudes, experiences, and amount and type of education available about psychedelics in training programs. Part two was an assessment of psychedelic literacy, and predictors of trainee knowledge were analyzed. A total of 473 responses were obtained, 221 of which were unique, complete, thought to be authentic, and therefore included. Results indicated trainees had learned about psychedelics and related therapies from a wide variety of sources, most notably social media and word-of-mouth, which did not correlate with increased knowledge. There is limited structured education available, and although overall knowledge is low, participation in programming at home institutions did predict greater psychedelic literacy. As psychedelics are becoming increasingly available and research into their use in medicine advances, inclusion of relevant material in academic training programs will be essential to prepare future professionals to effectively educate and counsel patients.

KEYWORDS:

• Psychedelics
• psychedelic medicine
• education
• training

Disclosure statement

Avinash Hosanagar and Jamarie Geller are currently involved in psilocybin clinical trials sponsored by the Department of Anesthesiology and COMPASS Pathfinder Limited at the University of Michigan. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2024.2341795.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

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Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.