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ECT Course

Emory University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry presents ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY MINI-FELLOWSHIP

The course is intended for psychiatrists and their nursing staff interested in developing an ECT service and understanding the procedures for the administration of ECT. The course emphasizes practical aspects of ECT administration including the pre-ECT workup, consent process, administration of a treatment with “hands on” experience for the participants, management of ECT side effects and maintenance medication or maintenance ECT after an index course. The course will also provide reading material including an overview of the lecture material and the most recent APA guidelines for the administration of ECT.

OBJECTIVE

Understand the most recent evidenced based literature on the theoretical basis for the therapeutic efficacy of ECT and the procedures for the safe and effective administration of ECT. Review the policies and procedures required by JCAHO and APA guidelines including necessary forms, pre-ECT work-up and post-ECT evaluation and follow-up. Practical experience in pre-ECT evaluations, observing ECT treatments, recovery and follow-up. The student will receive one-on-one training with an instructor.

COURSE STRUCTURE

Physicians in the Emory ECT Service administer approximately 220 treatments per month. This will allow course participants to be involved in approximately 30– 40 treatments during the three day course. The focus of the course is on the practical aspects of administering ECT with a strong emphasis on evidenced based literature supporting the practice of ECT. Psychiatrist(s) can bring up to two nursing staff from their program. These additional staff will be included in all didactic sessions and will spend the clinical time learning how to administer treatments (the actual placement of the electrodes), the specifics of pre-op evaluations and recovery room procedures.

FACULTY

William M. McDonald MD William M. McDonald MD is the JB Fuqua Professor of Psychiatry and Chief of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at Emory University.  Dr. McDonald was Director of ECT until 2008 and has been administering ECT since 1993 when he came to Emory from Duke University.   Dr. McDonald is Chair of the American Psychiatric Association Committee on Electroconvulsive Therapy and Other Electromagnetic Therapies and is an active member of the Association of Convulsive Therapy.  Dr. McDonald has completed an NIMH funded study in maintenance ECT, is on the editorial board for the Journal of ECT and has been a lecturer and instructor in ECT seminars at both the APA and American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry.   Dr. McDonald is presently one of the authors on the APA’s upcoming revisions to the Recommendations for Treatment, Training, and Privileging for the Practice of Electroconvulsive Therapy.  Dr. McDonald was also an investigator for the Neuronetics trial of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and is a principal investigator for the NIMH funded multicenter TMS trial involving Emory, University of Washington, Columbia and Medical University of South Carolina.  Dr. McDonald will be involved in the practical instruction of ECT as well as teaching of the course.

Adriana Hermida MD Adriana Hermida MD is the Director of Electroconvulsive Therapy Service at Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital since 2008. She supervises and is a consulting physician with the community & outpatient clinic, she mentors Geriatric Fellows and is involved in research with transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Hisam Goueli MD Hisam Goueli MD is an Assistant Professor with Emory University in the School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Goueli joined the Fuqua Center in July 2009. He received his medical degree from The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He completed a combined Family Medicine-Psychiatry residency at University Hospitals of Cleveland - Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Goueli is the Medical Directory for the Geriatric Psychiatry Inpatient Units and a regular provider of electroconvulsive therapy.  

Tom Maxwell, NP Tom Maxwell, NP is a Family Nurse Practitioner with a post masters certificate as a  Geriatrics Nurse Practitioner with five years experience coordinating The ECT Service  at Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital. He has been employed with Emory Healthcare for approximately 30 years in a variety of administrative and clinical positions.

Sharyn R. Syre, MD Sharyn R. Syre MD is Chief of Anesthesiology at Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital. She has been at Wesley Woods since 2002, and is a Board Certified Anesthesiologist. She attended medical school at Northwestern University School of Medicine, and did her Internship and Anesthesiology Residency at Emory University.  

For more information and registration for our ECT Course, please click here or call Michele Miles at (404) 728-6948.