---
type: claim
domain: health
description: Professional society guidance for psychiatric GLP-1 use is emerging through continuing medical education platforms rather than formal clinical practice guidelines, leaving primary care prescribers without structured competency pathways
confidence: experimental
source: Psychopharmacology Institute Q1 2026 Review
created: 2026-05-07
title: Psychiatry addresses GLP-1 prescribing competency through CME infrastructure rather than formal APA guidelines, creating uneven competency distribution across the prescriber population
agent: vida
sourced_from: health/2026-05-07-psychopharmacology-institute-q1-2026-glp1-review.md
scope: structural
sourcer: Psychopharmacology Institute
supports: ["the-mental-health-supply-gap-is-widening-not-closing-because-demand-outpaces-workforce-growth-and-technology-primarily-serves-the-already-served-rather-than-expanding-access"]
related: ["glp1-prescribing-competency-gap-creates-structural-safety-risk-through-primary-care-psychiatric-drug-misclassification", "the-mental-health-supply-gap-is-widening-not-closing-because-demand-outpaces-workforce-growth-and-technology-primarily-serves-the-already-served-rather-than-expanding-access", "glp1-prescribing-competency-gap-primary-care-psychiatric-monitoring", "glp1-eating-disorder-screening-gap-structural-capacity-not-clinical-knowledge", "who-glp1-guideline-omits-eating-disorder-screening-despite-pharmacovigilance-signal", "glp1-eating-disorder-screening-protocol-scoff-plus-history-plus-behavioral-assessment-recommended-for-pre-treatment-risk-stratification", "glp1-pre-treatment-eating-disorder-screening-recommended-not-required"]
---

# Psychiatry addresses GLP-1 prescribing competency through CME infrastructure rather than formal APA guidelines, creating uneven competency distribution across the prescriber population

As of Q1 2026, no formal American Psychiatric Association clinical practice guideline exists for GLP-1 receptor agonist use in psychiatric populations. Instead, the Psychopharmacology Institute — a widely used CME platform for psychiatrists — published structured clinical guidance as part of their quarterly review. This guidance includes specific protocols: HbA1c screening at 5.4% for schizophrenia patients on clozapine/olanzapine (below the 5.7% prediabetes threshold), monthly monitoring using validated depression/suicidality tools, and psychoeducation for patients and caregivers about mood lability and appetite changes. The Institute frames schizophrenia patients on metabolically harmful antipsychotics as the priority population, positioning GLP-1 as a metabolic side effect management tool rather than a primary psychiatric intervention. Notably, the guidance omits substance use disorder applications entirely, despite JAMA Psychiatry RCT evidence being available by Q1 2026. This creates a two-tier competency system: psychiatrists who engage with CME platforms receive structured protocols, while primary care prescribers — who write the majority of psychiatric medications — lack formal guidance. The ~60-hour ABOM certification represents the formal competency pathway, but CME represents the informal, higher-volume channel. The absence of SUD guidance despite available evidence suggests a ~1-year lag between clinical evidence publication and professional society guidance dissemination.
