Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Medical School Curriculum and Textbook Review

OBJECTIVES We conducted a curriculum review of Canadian undergraduate medical programs to identify why aggressive obsessions (among those with obsessive-compulsive disorder [OCD]) are so often misidentified by primary care physicians and professional students.METHODS This study involved standardized interviews with representatives from Canadian medical schools regarding the content, time, and teaching styles used to deliver curricula related to OCD. Further, we utilized a set of standardized criteria to assess the OCD content of recommended textbooks from these schools.RESULTS Canadian medical curricula failed to provide a comprehensive picture of OCD. One-third of medical programs did not provide an example of aggressive obsessions to students, with textbook case examples centered heavily (70%) on contamination or symmetry. Only 25% of programs (and 60% of textbooks) discussed the composition of the Unacceptable Thought Domain to include aggressive, sexual, and religious obsessions. Finally, over half of medical programs failed to indicate that aggressive obsessions are ego-dystonic and do not lead people to harm themselves or others.CONCLUSION A series of recommendations are provided for medical schools intended to improve the comprehensiveness of OCD-related training.