Kagunde and his team at CHOP are currently working with Girard College, a preparatory school in the Sharswood area, to provide clinical services to students in grades 1 through 12. Similar partnerships with other local schools are in the works.
“But in a situation where there’s a shortage of child psychiatrists, I think having a family doctor is really important to eliminate stigma and improve access to care,” Kagande said.
Still, Kagande said those grim figures will likely remain virtually unchanged unless universities encourage more medical students to take on the extra requirements — often tuition fees — required to treat children with mental and behavioral disorders.
While other medical specialties have similar barriers to entry, Kagandeh said psychiatry faces a different challenge: Because mental health has traditionally been an afterthought for both patients and doctors, many medical students aren’t initially very interested in psychiatry, Kagandeh said.
The situation is exacerbated by the continued difficulty of obtaining reimbursement for mental health care costs.
“Compared to other physical health claims, the inequities in reimbursement are highlighted and we often don’t get reimbursed equally. [Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act] “It was passed in 2008 but it hasn’t really been implemented well, so some people are hesitant to go into child psychiatry.”
