Comfort with uncertainty in primary care practice: lessons learned from a pilot study with psychology students.

Purpose: Our goal was to assess how comfort with uncertainty (CwU), a variable connected to success in primary care physicians, was associated with readiness to perform tasks in integrated primary care. As behavioral health integration in primary care continues to grow, understanding the variables t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Integrated Care Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 292 - 303
Main Authors: Ogbeide, Stacy A., Murphy, Bridget
Format: research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Emerald Publishing Limited 2025
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:Purpose: Our goal was to assess how comfort with uncertainty (CwU), a variable connected to success in primary care physicians, was associated with readiness to perform tasks in integrated primary care. As behavioral health integration in primary care continues to grow, understanding the variables that encourage or discourage behavioral health learners entering primary care are of great importance to meet workforce demands. Design/methodology/approach: A sample (N = 35) of graduate students enrolled in doctoral, health service psychology programs completed a survey of demographics, two CwU measures, and a measure of readiness for specific integrated primary care tasks as well as measures of resilience and psychological flexibility. Findings: Results found that CwU was significantly, positively associated with more readiness to use the following primary care-specific skills over and above level of training: consulting with medical staff (p = 0.039), accepting warm handoffs (p = 0.031), conducting shared medical visits (p = 0.034), scheduling patients within existing medical appointments (p = 0.05), and educating patients about their medical disorder and advise self-management strategies (p = 0.049). Originality/value: These findings suggest that CwU may be an important variable to consider in integrated primary care trainees.