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Psychiatric Epidemiology Training Program

Overview

Program

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Overview

The Columbia University Psychiatric Epidemiology Training Program was created in 1972 to train individuals from different disciplines in psychiatric epidemiology. It is one of only a small handful of programs designed to provide research training in the epidemiology of mental disorders. The program has trained 115 researchers, most of whom have gone on to make important contributions and some of whom have become leaders in the field.
Since its inception, Bruce P. Dohrenwend, was the Director of the Training Program. Under Dr. Dohrenwend's direction the program flourished in many ways. He shaped the character of the program through his rigorous standards for research, his strong commitment to mentoring and his enthusiasm for the pursuit of new knowledge. He made the program strong by enlisting the support of a diverse group of investigators with varied expertise and by running the program within the context of a democratic decision making structure.

His leadership style has become embedded in the culture of the program and this approach will be the guide for its governance in the future. He will continue to have a strong influence on the direction and functioning of the program in his new role as Co-director. In September, 1995, Bruce G. Link assumed the role of Program Director.

Principles of Training

The program provides training for 9 postdoctoral and 5 predoctoral fellows. The postdoctoral fellows will be a mix of M.D. psychiatrists and Ph.D. social scientists. The precise mix of pre- and post-doctoral fellows varies year by year depending on the applicant pool and program needs.

We have developed a set of principles over the past 24 years that guide our approach to training. While the principles we identify help define our program they are neither unique to it nor the only principles that a training program in this area might employ.

The unifying theme for training involves the use of theory, study design or measurement innovation to allow previously untested ideas to be tested. In any particular application one or another of these (theory, design, measurement) might be emphasized but the mix achieved should always lead to the testing of an idea that increases our understanding of the onset, course or consequences of mental disorders. Thus in training fellows we seek to emphasize that, to represent an advance, a research project must test a previously untested idea and that the most likely avenues to achieving such tests are theoretical /conceptual advances, well crafted designs, and innovations in measurement.

To achieve this training goal fellows complete a series of courses (see Program) and then apply the knowledge from the courses in field placements with research faculty who exemplify how these elements combine and lead to successful tests of important ideas. Continuously throughout this process, trainees develop a breadth of knowledge concerning important work done nationally and internationally through literature, seminars, and attendance at conferences.

Research Focus

Over the past 24 years the psychiatric epidemiology program at Columbia has been keenly attentive to issues raised by the descriptive epidemiology of psychiatric disorder including the sheer amount of psychopathology, the fact that only a minority of people with identified disorder are treated for those disorders, and the distribution of disorder according to socioeconomic status, gender and indicators of exposure to adversity. These issues were raised by first and second generation studies (Dohrenwend and Dohrenwend 1982) and reinforced by newer more sophisticated studies, whereas still other issues have emerged or gained even greater salience from the third generation studies themselves (Robins and Regier 1991; Kessler et al. 1994). The third generation studies have raised or enhanced the salience of several additional issues including the distribution of disorder in different birth cohorts, comorbidity, and the possibility of unique factors explaining onset as opposed to course . And, of course, descriptive epidemiological studies continue to refine and expand the scope of measurement so that in the time ahead new patterns focused on childhood disorders or personality disorders are likely to emerge and require explanation.

The Columbia University Psychiatric Epidemiology Training Program has always emphasized the integration of multiple perspectives. In part this is a natural consequence of the diverse interests of a large and very active faculty. But more than this it is our conviction that broad-based knowledge enhances research focused on more narrowly conceived questions. It does this by suggesting novel solutions to research problems, by helping to locate the significance of a particular research finding in a broader context and by allowing the possibility for the integration of research findings emerging from diverse perspectives.

Still, it is fair to say that the Columbia Program has had a substantive emphasis on the role of adversity in the etiology and course of psychiatric disorders. This emphasis drew its impetus from the very consistent association between socioeconomic status and mental disorder and from studies of extreme situations. Under the direction of Bruce Dohrenwend the program made strides toward understanding this association.


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