The majority of psychiatry continuing medical education courses deal with psychopharmacology, to a large extent because that has become the dominant treatment modality over the last two decades. In addition, free courses sponsored by pharmaceutical companies often focus on pharmacological interventions to introduce product classes to physicians and other practitioners.

Psychiatry CME courses that cover behavioral therapies primarily cover disorders for which a pharmacological approach has not been developed. Examples include certain pediatric psychiatric and neurological issues like Tourette's syndrome.

Given the large overlap between psychiatry and neurology, CME courses tend to overlap in topics and faculty. When a course is presented as specifically a psychiatry CME offering, it often deals with the affective and behavioral components of disorders.

While medical ethics are important in all disciplines within medicine, ethics take on a special role within psychiatry. Accordingly, psychiatry CME courses will often focus on ethical dilemmas that arise during the course of practice.

Psychiatry CME Resources

• Medscape has an up-to-date and useful compilation of courses for psychiatrists and primary care providers looking to brush up on psychiatry issues.
• The psychiatric trade publication Psychiatry Times also offers 1-credit online courses.
• Netdoc has an excellent searchable database of CME courses, both live and online.
• The CME center at the APA (American Psychiatric Association) has self-study and grand-rounds type courses. However these courses are restricted to members of the APA.