Couple and Family Therapy Students Join Medical Rounds

Students in the Medical Family Therapy class, taught by Kenneth W. Covelman, PhD, Couple and Family Therapy chair, are getting first-hand experience learning about the impact of illness on families. In the spring semester, the students participated in psycho-social rounds led by Mitchell J.M. Cohen, MD, Vice Chair for Education, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior.

Christine M. Jerpbak, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine, who knows Dr. Covelman through their collaboration in the Health Mentors program, facilitated the connection. “Medical residents, students and faculty already meet with Dr. Cohen twice a month,” she shares. “We thought, why not bring the couple and family therapy students along for the discussion?”

During the rounds, the group members listen to Dr. Cohen, comment and ask questions about the connection between medicine and behavioral medicine. “Everyone learns from each other,” says Dr. Jerpbak.

“In our class, the students are studying the impact of physical illness on patients and their families,” shares Dr. Covelman. “By having them attend psychosocial rounds, they get to see the real life implications of these issues and the ways in which they impact the doctor-patient relationship. This is important because in working with these cases, family therapists need to understand this crucial relationship and be able to work successfully with physicians and patients alike.”

CFT student Taryn Cain sees the interaction between therapy and medicine as a positive shift in healthcare field. “Medical doctors and psychotherapists have very different specialties and it is not fair to expect one profession to deal with issues for which they cannot provide the best care,” she says. “Interdisciplinary cooperation is essential not only in improving the health of patients but their overall quality of life.”

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