Danny Wedding

Psychological Profile of Sasang Typology: A Systematic Review

A systematic review of studies related to the psychological characteristics of Sasang types was conducted with the goal of delineating generalizable psychological profiles based on Sasang typology, a traditional Korean medical typology with medical herbs and acupuncture that is characterized as personalized medicine. Journal articles pertaining to Sasang typology were collected using five electronic database systems in Korea and in the USA. As a result, 64 potentially relevant studies were identified and 21 peer-reviewed research articles that employed psychometric inventories were included. Beginning with the use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory in 1992, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, NEO-Personality Inventory, Temperament and Character Inventory and other personality assessment tools were employed in the identified studies. Because data synthesis could not be carried out due to the heterogeneity of the studies, the present review article sought to delineate the mutual relevance of the studies based on research results pertaining to the correlation between the aforementioned psychological assessment instruments. Results of the review indicate that two super-factors, Extraversion and Neuroticism, serve as the foundation in regards to delineating personality constructs, such that the So-Yang type scored high on the Extraversion dimension and low on the Neuroticism dimension, while the So-Eum type scored low on the Extraversion dimension and high on the Neuroticism dimension. The present systematic review indicates that Sasang typology shares similarities with the Western psychological tradition.

Health psychology and public policy: the political process.

During the past 20 years, psychologists have successfully modified federal statutes, resulting in recognition of the professions clinical and research expertise. Despite these successes, professional psychologys training institutions have largely failed to address basic issues in health policy and the implications of national health policy for psychology. The importance of public health programs under Title VII of the Public Health Act and the significance of full inclusion of psychology in all federal health programs, including Titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid), are poorly understood by most health psychologists. Federal health policy decisions, including management of excessive federal health spending, will dictate the growth and opportunities for health psychologists. Understanding federal health spending and recent federal initiatives such as Resource Based Relative Value Scale, Diagnostic Related Groups, and practice guidelines will be of benefit to health psychologists.

Employment Characteristics and Salaries of Psychologists in United States Medical Schools: Past and Current Trends

In 1997 the Research Office of the American Psychological Association (APA) collaborated with the Association of Medical School Psychologists (AMSP) to conduct a comprehensive employment and salary survey of psychologists employed in medical schools and academic health centers. Questionnaires were mailed to 3894 psychologists; postcard reminders and a follow-up mailing to nonresponders resulted in a final 50% response rate. The questionnaire addressed appointment characteristics, department and school characteristics, employment activities, salary information, demographics, and changes in the medical school work environment that have occurred as a result of managed care. This survey, the 1997 Employment Characteristics and Salaries of Medical School Psychologists, is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the practice of psychology in U.S. schools of medicine and academic health centers. This article reports the most salient findings from this survey.

Gender Differences in Employment and Salaries of Psychologists Within Medical School Settings

A survey of 3,894 psychologists employed within medical schools and academic health centers was conducted in 1997 by the Research Office of the American Psychological Association (APA) in collaboration with the Association of Medical School Psychologists (AMSP). This survey, published as the 1997 Employment Characteristics and Salaries of Medical School Psychologists, included inquiries about various aspects of employment (e.g., academic rank, tenure status, employment activities, appointment characteristics, department affiliations, demographic characteristics) and earnings. Employment characteristics and salary information were compared by gender. The findings indicated that men had more favorable employment circumstances and higher base salaries than their female counterparts. These differences existed across all academic ranks and were found at each level of experience. This article discusses these findings and their implications.

Creating a Research-Friendly Workplace

Research productivity is one of the defining characteristics of academic excellence. However, research may become a low priority at medical schools and academic health centers as faculty increasingly are asked to generate clinical revenue to support their faculty positions. This increased demand for clinical revenue results in less time for teaching and research. Given these conditions, it is imperative that administrators working at academic health centers look for creative ways to increase the research productivity of their faculty in those situations in which faculty may have little time to write grants and conduct research. This paper overviews the success of the Missouri Institute of Mental Health in tripling research productivity over the past 5 years.

Maintaining the confidentiality of computerized mental health outcome data.

The emergence of managed behavioral health care has increased the value of data describing outcomes of mental health treatment. At the same time, increased development of the national information infrastructure and other computer linkage systems has facilitated the flow of information among a wide network of data systems. These two developments create a dynamic tension between the need to share information and the need to protect the privacy of mental health clients and the confidentiality of their computerized records. This problem is exacerbated by the cost associated with potential solutions. Unfortunately, policy development in this area has lagged behind rapid developemnts in technology. The mental health administrator must balance the three components of this conflict (the increasing need for information transfer, the protection of confidentiality, and cost) without a great deal of guidance. This article offers recommendations that may help the mental health administrator manage this conflict.

Innovative Methods for Making Behavioral Science Relevant to Medical Education

Thousands of psychologists teach in U.S. medical schools, and these psychologists are responsible for ensuring that the medical students they train are aware of the ways in which research findings from the behavioral and social sciences can enhance the practice of medicine. In addition, it is imperative that physicians appreciate the limits of their own ability to treat psychological and psychiatric problems and know when to refer to mental health professionals. This brief article is based on a talk given by the author at the 2007 American Psychological Association (APA) convention after receiving the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers (APAHC) Ivan Mensh Award for Distinguished Achievement in Teaching. The paper draws on the personal experiences of the author after three decades spent teaching behavioral science to medical students, and it introduces readers to the reasoning behind many of the decisions made in planning and developing each of the author’s four editions of the medical school text Behavior and Medicine.

Prescribing, professional identity, and costs

Prescriptive authority is not a back alley way to the practice of psychiatry, according to this survey of nurse psychologists. Only 5% of the 266 nurse psychologists with an option to pursue prescriptive authority as advanced nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists had availed themselves of this opportunity and were prescribing. Liability insurance premiums for advanced nurse practitioners who can prescribe a wide range of medications appear to be less costly than premiums for psychologists who cannot prescribe. Knowledge and management of medications for treatment of patients were already incorporated into the standards of practice of psychology for three quarters of the nurse psychologist practitioners responding to the survey.

Educating Health Professionals about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Abstract Prenatal exposure to alcohol is a leading preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities. Individuals exposed to alcohol during fetal development can have physical, mental, behavioral, and learning disabilities, with lifelong implications. These conditions are known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). Health care professionals play a crucial role in identifying women at risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy and in identifying the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure among individuals. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities has funded four universities as FASD Regional Training Centers (RTCs). The RTCs, in collaboration with the CDC and the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, are developing, implementing, and evaluating educational curricula for medical and allied health students and practitioners and seeking to have the curricula incorporated into training programs at each grantees university or college, into other schools throughout the region, and into the credentialing requirements of professional boards. This article highlights some of the innovative training approaches that the RTCs are implementing to increase knowledge regarding FASDs and the ability of health professionals to identify, treat, and prevent these conditions.

Special Issue: 1997 Association of Medical School Psychologists Convention

In November 1997 the Association of Medical School Psychologists (AMSP) held its second national convention in St. Louis, Missouri, to present information of relevance to psychologists practicing in academic health centers. This St. Louis convention was a follow-up to the first AMSP convention held at Georgetown in 1995, titled “Health Care Reform and Psychologists in Medical Schools: Stress, Challenge, and Change.” Consistent with the publication of the proceedings of the Georgetown conference in a Special Section of the Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings (JCPMS, Vol. 4, 1997) the major presentations of the St. Louis convention are presented in this Special Issue to inform JCPMS readers of the important issues AMSP addresses for all psychologists practicing in medical schools. Of primary importance at the convention of the Association of Medical School Psychologists (AMSP), the Board of Directors decided to pursue American Psychological Association (APA) Divisional status in order to address better and more cohesively those issues that affect all medical school psychologists. In addition, the Board voted to include a subscription to the Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings (JCPMS) as a standard part of AMSP membership to encourage others to join AMSP and assist in furthering the status of Psychology at academic health centers. Although all presentations at the 1997 AMSP Convention in St. Louis were of significant importance to attending psychologists, several were of major relevance to the current practice of Psychology in medical settings and are illustrative of the issues addressed by AMSP. As part of this Special