Can I Get ECT Certified as a resident and where?

[Blitz2006]

So I'm interested in getting ECT certified.

Should I do it in PGY3 or 4?
Is this possible?
How many days does it take to get certified?
Which hospitals in the NYC area offer certification?
Which is the "best" training site?

Thanks!

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[wolfvgang22]

As far as I know there is no certification. Many residencies provide ample opportunities to do a lot of ECT. I started doing ECT in PGY 1. I don't know anything about New York except upstate.

 

[Wyvernrider]

My understanding from the elective I did as a medical student was that you just need privileges from the hospital and every hospital has their own basis for giving out these privileges. I would imagine this consists of having "x" amount of supervised cases at most hospitals.

 

[Blitz2006]

Interesting.

I was under the impression you need to be "certified" before you can start doing ECT as an attending...

 

[Doctor Bagel]

My understanding from the elective I did as a medical student was that you just need privileges from the hospital and every hospital has their own basis for giving out these privileges. I would imagine this consists of having "x" amount of supervised cases at most hospitals.

This is my understanding, too. My program's goal was that we would do enough ECT to be able to get credentialed to do ECT after graduation, presumably based on usual credentialing requirements at local hospitals.

 

[splik]

There is no official certification you just get a letter stating you are trained in ECT. You just need to do enough cases for someone to say you know how to do it. Presumably your program will teach you how to do ECT it's not exactly particular hard to push a button

 

[cookymonster]

I did four months of ECT as a PGY-4 but still had to get certified at my hospital by doing 50 supervised cases.

And ECT is technically unchallenging and easier than most floor work, but you need to know a lot more than how to push a button to do it effectively and safely.

 

[shan564]

At my program (WashU), all PGY2's do a mandatory ECT rotation during which you'll do around 8-15 treatments daily for a month. You can choose to do it again as a PGY4 elective if you want. But even if you've done two months (hence, at least 300 cases), you still have to do a certain number of supervised cases as an attending.

It's correct that there is no formal certification that allows you to do ECT anywhere. The International Society for ECT and Neurostimulation (ISEN) offers a certification course, which is basically just a 1-day training session that happens the day before their annual meeting (which happens at the same time/place as the APA meeting every year), but that certification usually won't substitute for whatever your hospital's requirements are. I'm not sure exactly what the purpose of that certificate is.

 

[Blitz2006]

Right.

I'm not worried about having the needed knowledge or skillset to do ECT. I just want to be able to do ECT straight after residency.

So I would like to expedite that process by doing as much as I can now as a resident.

As a resident now should I create some sort of log book for the ECTs I have watched? I'm doing a rotation next month with an attending that does ECT..

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Right.

I'm not worried about having the needed knowledge or skillset to do ECT. I just want to be able to do ECT straight after residency.

So I would like to expedite that process by doing as much as I can now as a resident.

As a resident now should I create some sort of log book for the ECTs I have watched? I'm doing a rotation next month with an attending that does ECT..

Seems like it would be a good idea, if your program doesn't already expect you to log them. Then also get a letter from the attending after the rotation stating how many procedures you observed, how many you performed, etc. It may help when it comes to the hospital credentialling you'll need to do to "do ECT straight after residency", whatever that means to you.

 

[PistolPete]

Duke has an ECT course where after completion you get a certificate.

 

[wolfvgang22]

And a cookie? I demand a cookie with my certificate!

 

[Shikima]

And a cookie? I demand a cookie with my certificate!

Make sure it has a fortune in it....

... goes something like this; Order take out now for soon you'll be hungry again.

 

[shan564]

Right.

I'm not worried about having the needed knowledge or skillset to do ECT. I just want to be able to do ECT straight after residency.

So I would like to expedite that process by doing as much as I can now as a resident.

As a resident now should I create some sort of log book for the ECTs I have watched? I'm doing a rotation next month with an attending that does ECT..

Most hospitals will still require you to do a certain number of supervised cases as an attending. It probably won't be a large number of cases (I think it's 20ish at my hospital).