Address: 1South Central Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (SC-MIRECC), Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, North Little Rock, USA, 2Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, HSR&D, Center for Mental Healthcare and Outcomes Research (CeMHOR), North Little Rock, USA, 3University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Health Services Research, Little Rock, USA, 4Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, USA and 5Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA Email: Greer Sullivan* - gsullivan@; Dean Blevins - blevinsdean@; Michael R Kauth - * Corresponding. | Implementation Science BioMed Central Open Access Translating clinical training into practice in complex mental health systems Toward opening the Black Box of implementation Greer Sullivan 1 2 3 Dean Blevins1 2 3 and Michael R Kauth1 4 5 Address 1South Central Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center SC-MIRECC Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System North Little Rock USA 2Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System HSR D Center for Mental Healthcare and Outcomes Research CeMHOR North Little Rock USA 3University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Department of Psychiatry Division of Health Services Research Little Rock USA 4Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center Houston USA and 5Menninger Department of Psychiatry Behavioral Sciences Baylor College of Medicine Houston USA Email Greer Sullivan - gsullivan@ Dean Blevins - blevinsdean@ Michael R Kauth - Corresponding author Published 3 June 2008 Received 29 June 2007 Implementation Science 2008 3 33 doi 1748-5908-3-33 Accepted 3 June 2008 This article is available from http content 3 1 33 2008 Sullivan et al licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http licenses by which permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background Implementing clinical training in a complex health care system is challenging. This report describes two successive trainings programs in one Veterans Affairs healthcare network and the lessons we drew from their success and failures. The first training experience led us to appreciate the value of careful implementation planning while the second suggested that use of an external facilitator might be an especially effective .
