Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Multimodal Psychotherapy Training Program for Medical Students in China: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Psychotherapy is central to the treatment of mental disorders, highlighting the importance of medical students and residents developing competencies in this area. Chinese medical residents have expressed a strong need for psychotherapy training, yet they are generally dissatisfied with the current offerings. This paper presents the protocol for an evidence-based, well-structured psychotherapy teaching program aimed at medical students and residents.

Objective: This study involves a randomized controlled trial of a 2-day multimodal intensive educational intervention designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a new psychotherapy teaching program for medical students and residents in China. The primary outcomes include participants' knowledge and utilization of psychotherapy, training program acceptability, self-reported self-efficacy, and motivation to apply psychotherapy.

Methods: This 2-arm randomized controlled trial was conducted at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital. The study aimed to recruit approximately 160 medical students and residents, with about 80 participants in the intervention group and 80 in the control group. Both groups completed a baseline survey before participation, reporting their psychotherapy knowledge, utilization of psychotherapy, self-efficacy, and self-motivation. The intervention group received a 2-day multimodal intensive educational intervention (supervision-based online teaching), while the waitlist control group did not receive any intervention during this period. Both groups were followed up for 8 weeks, completing the same survey administered at baseline. At the end of the study, the control group received the intervention. The primary outcome measure was the change in trainees' psychotherapy knowledge before and after the intervention training. Secondary outcome measures included changes in the trainees' utilization of psychotherapy, self-reported self-efficacy, and self-reported motivation for psychotherapy. Additionally, training program acceptability was assessed. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the primary outcomes. Pearson correlations and regression analysis explored factors associated with the knowledge score at baseline. The secondary outcomes, including participants' psychotherapy utilization, confidence, and motivation, were analyzed using the same methods as for knowledge. All tests were 2-tailed, with a significance level set at P<.05.

Results: A total of 160 participants were recruited and randomized between January 4 and 12, 2024. Baseline assessments were conducted from January 28 to February 1, 2024. The psychotherapy training program for the intervention group took place on February 3 and 4, 2024. Posttraining assessments were conducted starting April 1, 2024. Due to withdrawals, incomplete surveys, and data loss, we had a total of 113 participants: 57 in the intervention group and 56 in the control group. The amount of data varied across measures. The data analysis was finished in August 2024.

Conclusions: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the multimodal psychotherapy training program for medical students in China. If this brief, cognitive behavioral therapy-based psychotherapy skill training proves effective, the potential mental health impact of its nationwide expansion could be significant.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06258460; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT06258460.

International registered report identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/58037.