ISSP Certificate of Additional Training in Sports Psychiatry

International Society for Sports Psychiatry -

Certificate of Additional Training in Sports Psychiatry

Learners who satisfactorily complete all aspects of this curriculum may be eligible for consideration for an International Society for Sports Psychiatry Certificate of Additional Training in Sports Psychiatry.  As with any credible Certificate program, not everyone who applies for a Certificate will be awarded one, as rigorous criteria are applied when evaluating submissions.  Note that if, at the time of release of the updated curriculum in 2022, you had already started work on the 2020 version of the curriculum in hopes of obtaining a Certificate of Additional Training in Sports Psychiatry, we will accept work on that version for the purposes of consideration for a Certificate.  We will no longer accept work on the 2018 version of the curriculum unless there are extenuating circumstances (in which case you must email Dr. Reardon at clreardon@wisc.edu for ISSP Education Committee consideration). 

To be eligible for a Certificate, the following criteria must be met:

1.     Must be a paid member in good standing of the ISSP 

2.     Must be a medical student, psychiatry resident, fellow in a psychiatry subspecialty fellowship program, or a psychiatrist who has completed a psychiatry residency program

3.     Must complete all readings and writing assignments as described in the curriculum.  Writing assignment responses should be typed in a single file that is email-able (e.g., a single PDF or Word document). 

4.     Must complete a “final project” as described in the curriculum materials.  Note that if you have completed a sports psychiatry project (such as having published a relevant journal or newsletter article or having given a relevant talk) within the last 2 years, then this may ‘count’ for final project completion, and can be submitted for consideration as such.  Final steps that demonstrate project implementation must be completed (e.g., article must already have been submitted to a journal or newsletter, talk has actually already been given to a group, etc.).  The project should take at least 2 hours to complete (and in most cases it will take more). 

5.     Must participate in some type of approved, interactive 1:1 or group mentorship or education.  If you are a medical student, resident, or fellow completing this curriculum as part of an official elective at your institution, this requirement is met IF your institution provides a mentor/instructor with whom you will have at least one 30-60 minute individual or group conversation to review your curriculum answers and final project as part of the elective.  Another option for meeting this requirement is to have at least one 30-60 minute mentorship conversation with someone else who has already received the ISSP Certificate of Additional Training in Sports Psychiatry.  A final option is participation in at least 1 interactive ISSP workshop as follows:  The ISSP has an expert led educational/workshop model allowing for immediate access to collaboration, engagement, and networking.  This is a monthly ISSP live interactive virtual educational session. Each session will be approximately 1 hour in duration and will occur on various days of the week and various times given our worldwide membership. Topics will include practice development, practice growth, working with youth athletes, working with professional athletes, sports psychiatry research, the ISSP certificate program as well as other specific topics such as sleep, doping, concussion, pharmacology, etc.  To participate in the program and receive a zoom link, you will need to email the mentorship chair, Dr. Alex Strauss (alexstraussmd@gmail.com) your CV, a signed mentorship agreement (Dr. Strauss will provide this to you by request), and proof of active ISSP membership. All expert session leaders will be seasoned Sports Mental Health Experts.  Attendance at these virtual sessions will be tracked, and feedback questionnaires will be required from both the attendees as well as the expert clinicians. Consideration may be given to highly engaged mentees to further their training with more specific mentorship in the future.

6.     Once all above requirements are met, email to the Chair of the ISSP Education Committee, Claudia Reardon, MD (clreardon@wisc.edu), the following:

·       Attestation that you are a paid member in good standing of the ISSP

·       Attestation that you are a medical student, psychiatry resident, fellow in a psychiatry subspecialty fellowship program, or a psychiatrist who has completed a psychiatry residency program

·       Your completed ISSP curriculum answers

·       Your completed final project and evidence of its implementation in some venue

·       Details of how/when/with whom the mentorship requirement (#5 above) was met 

7.     The ISSP Education Committee will review all items in #6 above.  Satisfactory completion of the curriculum will require the following:

·       Correct and reasonable answers to ALL questions in the ISSP curriculum.  The ISSP Education Committee will use our official answer key to make this determination.  If any of your answers from 5 or fewer topic areas are incorrect or unreasonable, you will be provided the opportunity to make revisions with the Committee’s indication to you as to which questions specifically need correction.  If answers to questions within more than 5 topic areas are incorrect or unreasonable, you will not be eligible for consideration for a Certificate for at least 1 year from the date of submission of your final answers.  This is because the Committee is very busy reviewing curriculum submissions, and we want applicants to be encouraged to put forth their best effort on their first attempt such that we can prioritize review of first attempts. 

·       Completion of an acceptable final project.  If the project is deemed unacceptable either because final steps have not been taken, it did not appear to require at least 2 hours to complete, it is factually inaccurate, it is otherwise low quality, or there is anything about it that is contrary to the core values of the ISSP as described on the ISSP website (https://sportspsychiatry.org/about-ISSP), you will be provided with the opportunity to make appropriate revisions or to complete a different project.

·       Confirmation that the membership, professional role, and mentorship requirements are met

 

If completion of the curriculum is deemed satisfactory:

·       An electronic ISSP Certificate of Additional Training in Sports Psychiatry will be emailed to the member.  Printing and mailing of hard copy certificates is not possible.

·       The member may list “International Society for Sports Psychiatry Certificate of Additional Training in Sports Psychiatry” on their CV or other personal/professional material.  Note that by issuing such a certificate, the ISSP is not attesting to any degree of competence in the field of sports psychiatry; the organization is simply confirming that additional education has been satisfactorily undertaken in accordance with our requirements.

·       You will be acknowledged as a new Certificate holder at the next annual ISSP Business Meeting and Scientific Session.

ISSP portable didactic sports psychiatry curriculum available here.