Contents
- Editorial
- "Who wants to
be a psychiatrist?" London Division academic day
- Student perceptions of third year mental
health clinical rotation
- Making the most of your experiences with
mental health on medical and surgical placements in foundation year
one
- Liaison
psychiatry taster week
- Trials without tribulation: the CEQUEL
study
- Seclusion and human rights
- Psychiatry as a career: everything you wanted
to know but were afraid to ask
- A year in the life of... University of
Leicester’s psychiatry society
- Elective report: the Tavistock
centre
- Upcoming events
- Opportunity to join the editorial team of
the student associate newsletter
1. Editorial
Sacha Evans, foundation year two doctor, Imperial College
Healthcare Trust
It is time for
the autumn edition of the RCPsych student associate and foundation
trainee newsletter and we have a real variety of articles in this
edition.
Back in May of this year,
I attended the London Divisional academic meeting, entitled “Who
wants to be a psychiatrist?” There was intensive debate about the
issues surrounding recruitment into psychiatry; these have been
neatly summarised by Dr Stephen
Ginn who also blogs at Frontier
Psychiatrist.
Emma Peagam also
addresses medical students' perceptions of psychiatry in her piece,
based on a project she carried out as a special study
component. Undoubtedly, the debate will be revisited at the
Royal Society of Medicine's event on 9 November 2010:
"Psychiatry as a
career: Everything you wanted to know about psychiatry but were
afraid to ask"
We have also included
some research
news from Professor John Geddes' team in Oxford, with
a piece about the CEQUEL clinical trial, which is assessing
treatments for bipolar affective disorder.
We also have a new
events
section at the bottom of the newsletter. You can also
find details of events appropriate to medical students and
foundation doctors on the Royal College of Psychiatrists'
website and on our Facebook
pages. Many of these events are free for medical
students.
As our current editorial
board moves onto pastures new, we are looking for a new
team of medical students and foundation trainees to
help edit this newsletter. We would like to thank the current team
for all their hard work and invaluable input over the past
year.
Finally, we would like to
welcome Roxanne Keynejad as the new Medical Student Representative
on the PTC. Roxanne and I will be working hard to make sure we
represent your views and we hope you will continue your
involvement. Roxanne will be editing the next newsletter so please
send your contributions to her at roxanne.keynejad@googlemail.com The
closing date for submissions for the next edition is 30
November 2010.
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2. "Who wants to be a psychiatrist?" London Division
academic day, 20 May 2010
Dr Stephen Ginn, ST4 general adult psychiatry East London
“Who wants to be a
psychiatrist?”, a Royal College of Psychiatrists London Division
academic day, was an interesting day of talks, workshops and
discussion examining reasons and solutions for the current problems
of UK psychiatric recruitment.
A recent Royal Society of
Medicine study found that, alongside general practice, it was
doctors who worked in psychiatry who found their lives the most
satisfying. The popularity of the study of psychology suggests
that, amongst school leavers, a general lack of interest in the
mind and its problems is not a problem; however again and again,
upon leaving foundation jobs, doctors in training choose other
specialties for a career.
How could this have come
about? Professor Ania Korszun from Barts and the London
suggested three culprits: psychiatry is seen as not ‘medical’ or
‘scientific’ enough; psychiatry recruitment suffers by association
with the widespread popular stigma surrounding mental disorder; and
medical students are discouraged from psychiatric careers by the
negative views held by doctors working in other specialties with
whom they spend much of their training.
Given the current
situation, it might have been possible to find some of the messages
of the day dispiriting. Fortunately there were many moments of
levity and an overall note of optimism. Dr Chris Manning, a GP
with experience of mental health services from both sides, praised
psychiatrists and delivered an enthusiastic panegyric: “Minding the
brain – the best job in the world”. Dr Kate Stein, a
foundation doctor, was equally enthusiastic when she told us about
her plans for a psychiatric career. The active role of medical
students present as delegates was also welcome and
encouraging.
Of course it is not
simply enough to identify a problem and there is a plan of action
in which, amongst others, Professor Howard, Dean of the Royal
College of Psychiatrists, is taking a special interest. He wishes
to raise the profile of psychiatry, especially with medical
students, and to make medicine in general ‘more psychiatric’.
The day closed with a
rabble rousing talk from Professor Simon Wessely: “Why
psychiatrists still need to be doctors”. Professor Wessely
convincingly argued that patients both want and need their mental
health disorders to be treated by psychiatrists who are also
doctors. He spoke of the value of our ability to make a diagnosis
and in our use of the biomedical model. Psychiatrists’ ability to
distinguish physical from psychiatric disease makes us
indispensible to our physical medicine colleagues.
Psychiatry has in fact
never recruited as many UK trained doctors as it needs to fill its
posts and in seeking to reverse this phenomenon we seek to overturn
a historical precedent. Improving the situation requires
action on many fronts. It particularly concerns me that we may be
recruiting the wrong mix of students to medical school, as current
science focused selection criteria favours technical knowledge over
a candidate’s potential to flourish into the practitioner of
holistic medicine that psychiatric practice requires and may
preclude those who will eventually wish to take the path required
by psychiatric practice. A central message of “Who wants to be
a psychiatrist?” is that all psychiatrists, including aspiring
ones, should become involved in this debate and every day should
regard themselves as “walking, talking adverts for psychiatry”.
Dr Stephen Ginn’s blog: www.frontierpsychiatrist.co.uk
Back to top
3. Student perceptions of third year mental health clinical
rotation
Emma Peagam, fifth year medical student, Newcastle
University
It is well
documented the number of medical graduates choosing careers in
psychiatry is in decline. Research has found that experience during
student rotations in psychiatry strongly influences student
attitudes to psychiatry and mental health, and influences long-term
career choices. With this in mind, I decided to run a small
research project as part of a Student Selected Component in
Psychiatry at South Tyneside Hospital.
The study aimed to
determine the effectiveness of the third year mental health
rotation at South Tyneside in promoting the role of psychiatry
within health care and the opportunities afforded by a career in
psychiatry. This was done by surveying students’ perceptions at the
start and end of the rotation. The questionnaire consisted of
balanced positive and negative perceptions of psychiatry and mental
health, focusing on careers in psychiatry, merits of psychiatry and
attitude to mental illness. Students were also asked to rate their
level of knowledge and clinical skills in psychiatry and about
their career intentions.
Students had favourable
perceptions towards psychiatry and mental illness before the
rotation, which were again confirmed at the end. During the
rotation students’ knowledge of, and clinical skills in, psychiatry
improved. They gained an appreciation that psychiatric patients can
improve and became more accepting of community care. They also felt
psychiatry to be a rewarding career; however, students did not
change their career intentions after the rotation.
The implications of this
study are that, whilst the image of psychiatry and mental health
amongst medical students undertaking this rotation was a positive
one, more can be done to promote psychiatry as a career; this could
be done by incorporating shadowing of a member of staff into the
outcomes of the rotation, encouraging the trainees to talk with
students about their experiences.
The results of the study
are limited due to the small sample size, the study can in no way
be deemed representative, it does not, however, detract from its
aim to generate themes to explore in more detail in future
research.
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4. Making the most of your experiences with mental health on
medical and surgical placements in FY1
Peter Kelsall, foundation year two doctor, Pennine Acute
Hospitals NHS Trust
As a
foundation year one doctor (FY1), you have to do at least one
medical and one surgical placement. Most of your time is spent
ordering and chasing investigations, writing out drug charts and
discharge summaries, and sticking needles into people. However, it
is well known that people with mental health problems are more
prone to develop various physical health problems, and vice-versa.
Furthermore, some patients (particularly older people) are admitted
onto medical wards due to a change in their mental state, and of
course there are those who are admitted following overdoses or
self-harm. All this is without mentioning the very large number of
people presenting with symptoms without an obvious organic
cause.
As you are busy most of
the time, it can be difficult to find the time needed to understand
these patients and really enjoy looking after them. In addition,
there is the general feeling that everyone in the team is geared up
almost exclusively to deal with the surgical or medical problem
and, in certain areas, mental health can be seen as rather
peripheral, as well as being outside the comfort zone of many
otherwise excellent and caring clinicians. Despite these
difficulties you will probably be the member of the medical or
surgical team who spends the most time on the ward, and there are
things you can do to help which require only the most basic
knowledge of psychiatry. Your contribution may be as simple as
talking to the relatives of a confused elderly patient to establish
their usual level of function, screening for depression in patients
with chronic conditions, helping nursing staff to understand and
respond to pre-existing mental health problems, and even spending
just a few minutes listening to any patient tell you what is
troubling them.
Even in the limited
amount of time I’ve spent as an FY1, there have been a number of
occasions where simple measures such as this quite clearly seemed
to have helped improve patients' experiences. In the case of
delirium, your assessment can of course alter the way a patient is
medically investigated and managed; a few of my best experiences of
the past year have been seeing these patients regain their
faculties and personalities, which their families often fear may
have been lost forever.
To conclude, dealing with
mental health issues as an FY1 in an acute hospital isn’t always
easy, but making an effort can be immensely rewarding for yourself,
both emotionally and in terms of professional development. As well
as this, it really can make a difference to your patients’ time in
hospital. Although I have no intention of becoming a surgeon or a
hospital physician, I feel I have had many experiences in the past
year, involving both mental and physical health, which I will draw
on for years to come.
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5. Liaison psychiatry taster week
Dr Lesley Cousins, foundation year one doctor, West Suffolk
Hospital
Having fallen in love
with psychiatry as a medical student, and seriously contemplating
applying for specialist training after my foundation years I felt
it is was imperative to get some experience ‘on the job’. I
therefore grabbed the opportunity to undertake a taster week in
liaison psychiatry. I chose liaison as it is a speciality one
doesn’t often get the opportunity to experience as a student and I
thought psychiatry relating to medical/surgical general hospital
patients would be also relevant for my house jobs.
Unfortunately my
foundation school program was less impressed on providing the time
to do this in my foundation year one and I was required to use a
week of annual leave. This was disappointing seeing as the
foundation year two seems a bit late considering when
applications for speciality training have to be submitted. I
organised the week myself, contacting the consultant lead who was
incredibly supportive and enthusiastic and made a particular point
of asking me what I wished to achieve and tailoring my week
accordingly.
The week involved a great
deal of variety. Initially I started off by joining
the specialist registrar or consultant during patient
assessments both for inpatient hospital referrals and during
outpatient clinics. However, as the week went on, I was given the
opportunity to see patients myself, making assessments and
presenting back to my seniors. In addition to being involved in the
teaching undertaken within the department I also had the
opportunity to work with the alcohol and addiction psychiatry team.
Throughout I was made to feel part of the team and involved in
decision making processes and I also had the opportunity to get
involved in various audits being undertaken in the department. The
enthusiasm of the department was infectious and all were very
positive about the job and the training. In particular I was
impressed by the communication skills of the psychiatry team, both
in communicating with their patients, within the team and with
other speciality doctors.
I was particularly struck
by the variety of patients referred to the service but couldn’t
help but notice the marked delay in the majority of cases for the
referral to be made. Perhaps if these patients had seen a
psychiatrist earlier, their inpatient stay would have been less
complicated?
So what have a taken away
from my week? That psychiatry is definitely for me. Taster weeks
are a great opportunity to get some experience in a speciality and
I have had the opportunity to be inspired by some incredibly
positive role models. All in all, well worthwhile.
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6. Trials without tribulation: the CEQUEL study
Adam Al-Diwani, final year medical students at Oxford
University
Toby Pillinger, final year medical students at Oxford
University
Dr Mary Jane Attenburrow, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist and
Senior Clinician at Oxford University Department of Psychiatry
The depressive phase of
bipolar disorder is often difficult to treat. Drug therapies are
the most effective treatment option, but come with difficulties.
For example, if patients with bipolar depression are treated with
standard antidepressants, such as fluoxetine, they can become
‘manic’ (known as ‘switching’) and mood stability can worsen over
the long term.
Recent evidence (endorsed
by NICE guidelines 2006) suggests that quetiapine may be a
preferred option because it has proven efficacy for the treatment
of bipolar depression and does not seem to induce switching.
However, its efficacy is not ideal and there is some evidence to
suggest that patients may do better if quetiapine is combined with
lamotrigine.
Lamotrigine was first
marketed as an antiepileptic and now also has a license for
long-term prevention of bipolar depression.
The Oxford Clinical
Trials Unit for Mental Illness (OCTUMI), currently has an active
trial called ‘CEQUEL’ (Comparative Evaluation of
QUEtiapine-Lamotrigine combination versus quetiapine monotherapy,
in people with bipolar depression). The study is aiming to answer
the question: ‘Do patients with bipolar depression do better on the
combination of quetiapine with lamotrigine versus quetiapine
alone?’. We spoke with Jane Hainsworth, Clinical Research Associate
at the Oxford University Department of Psychiatry who told us all
about the CEQUEL trial.
CEQUEL is an independent
trial funded by the MRC. The Chief Investigator and Trial Director
is Professor John Geddes (Oxford University Department of
Psychiatry), a leading expert on bipolar disorder and clinical
trial design. CEQUEL is a multi-centered, randomised, controlled
double-blind trial. They now have 178 investigators (psychiatrists)
across the UK and have recruited 150 patients so far. In order for
the trial to have enough statistical power to answer the clinical
question posed they need to recruit 580 patients in total, this is
a big trial for psychiatry.
An additional clinical
question addressed by CEQUEL is whether or not antidepressant
treatment for bipolar disorder is improved by the addition of folic
acid, a vitamin that is implicated in mood disorders.
The patient eligibility criteria for CEQUEL
are:
- Primary diagnosis of bipolar affective
disorder types 1 and 2 (DSM-IV criteria)
- Current depressive episode that requires new
pharmacological treatment
- Aged 16 or over
- Clinically reasonable to treat with
quetiapine
Recruitment is relatively
straightforward especially as all patients are treated with a
recommended medication, quetiapine, throughout the trial period.
After a 2 week run-in period which tests tolerability to
quetiapine, patients are randomised (double blind) to one of 4
groups as shown in the table below.
Group
A
Quetiapine
Lamotrigine Folic
acid
Group
B
Quetiapine
Lamotrigine Placebo
Group
C
Quetiapine
Placebo Folic
acid
Group
D
Quetiapine
Placebo Placebo
Table: treatment groups in CEQUEL
A readily measurable
outcome measure is important in clinical trials. CEQUEL uses a
validated depression self-rating scale that the patients do each
week via SMS text messaging. This novel system was developed by
members of the CEQUEL team and others at the Department of
Psychiatry in conjunction with the Oxford and Buckinghamshire
Mental Healthcare Trust and won an ‘NHS Live’ award for innovation
in 2008. The CEQUEL primary outcome is remission from depressive
symptoms after 12 weeks. Additionally, the trial will assess
depression/mania-free time and quality of life over 12 months.
CEQUEL is recruiting
nationally with trusts spanning from Oxford to Glasgow and the
organisers are keen to recruit more investigators. Any psychiatric
registrar who is interested in taking part in this MRC-funded RCT
can become an investigator provided their local trust is approved
and their consultant is in agreement. The NHS now positively
encourages, and indeed expects, doctors to play an active role in
clinical research so this could be your opportunity! CEQUEL say
that no previous experience is necessary.
If you would like more
information and enrolment details please see the trial website,
www.cequel.org,
or contact Jane Hainsworth (jane.hainsworth@psych.ox.ac.uk,
cequel@psych.ox.ac.uk).
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7. Seclusion and Human Rights
Todd Kanzara, fifth year medical student, Newcastle
University
Seclusion in
psychiatry is controversial. Critics argue that it is draconian and
infringes the patient’s human rights whilst supporters assert that
it is a last resort measure used to manage the risk posed to
others.
The detention and
treatment of psychiatric patients in the UK is covered by the
Mental Health Act 1983 as amended in 2008. One would assume that
the MHA 1983 also covers the issue of seclusion; it doesn’t.
Seclusion is only covered in the Mental Health Act Code of Practice
1983 which only provides guidance and as such is not a legally
binding instrument. This issue has provoked considerable debate in
the domestic courts.
Seclusion is defined as:
“The supervised
confinement of a patient in a room, which may be locked. Its sole
aim is to contain severely disturbed behaviour which is likely to
cause harm to others.”
It should not be used:
- as a punishment or a threat;
- as part of a treatment programme;
- because of a shortage of staff;
- where there is a risk of suicide or
self-harm.
The potential for
conflict between seclusion and civil liberties is undeniable.
However, the most pertinent issue is whether perceived
infringements engage articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on
Human Rights.
Article 3 provides that:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or
inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.”
Article 3 robustly
protects detained patients. It states that any interventions that
cannot be justified under therapeutic necessity will breach the
article. The patient must show that the interventions in question
were not a therapeutic necessity. Therefore, in the absence of
evidence that seclusion was unnecessary, it is presumed legal.
Seclusion potentially interferes with Article
8(1) which provides that:
“Everyone has the right to respect for his
private and family life, his home and his correspondence.”
This is subject to derogation under specified
conditions.
This being the case, it
was established in the landmark decision in Munjazi that seclusion
is justifiable if there was a threat to public safety, to prevent
disorder or crime, to protect health and morals and to protect
rights and freedom of others. Their Lordships stressed that used
properly; seclusion is not a disproportionate measure because it
matches the necessity that gives rise to its use.
The courts recognise the
importance of seclusion in psychiatry. Along with this recognition
comes a huge responsibility for psychiatric professionals to ensure
its use is judicious.
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8. Psychiatry as a career: everything you wanted to know but
were afraid to ask.
Dr Alexandra Pitman
MRC Research Fellow (ST5) in
Psychiatry, UCL Department of Mental Health Sciences, Young
Fellows’ Representative on the RSM Psychiatry Section Council
At the May London
Division Academic Day, “Who wants to be a psychiatrist?”, speakers
highlighted the range of reasons thought to discourage medical
students from choosing a career in psychiatry. These included
psychiatry not being seen as sufficiently ‘scientific’, the
association with the stigma of mental illness, and the negative
views expressed by doctors in other specialties. This November the
Psychiatry Section of the Royal Society of Medicine have planned an
event responding directly to the uncertainties medical students
might have about whether to choose psychiatry as a career.
Rather than showcasing
the different sub-specialties or presenting a range of research
findings the RSM’s approach will be to answer a series of questions
posed by medical students themselves. The medical students who
advised on the event said they wanted to know what everyday life as
a psychiatrist was really like. They wanted to know whether
protected time for psychotherapy, supervision, and MRCPysch courses
really was honoured, whether it was risky conducting community
visits or seeing patients on a ward, how easy it was to train
flexibly, and what different types of jobs were available. The
problem was that for many of them their psychiatry placements had
given them no real flavour of life as a trainee, and no sense of
what the career offered.
This event, on the
afternoon of Tuesday 9 November, is entitled “Psychiatry as a
career: everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask”. Each
question will be addressed by a pair of speakers, ranging from
consultants to core trainees, so that a dual perspective is gained.
Is psychiatry a risky profession? Dr Mark Salter will answer this
question together with a higher trainee. How strong is the evidence
for psychiatric treatments? An Academic Clinical Fellow and a MRC
Research Fellow will give an overview of research findings across
the biopsychosocial model to address this question. How easy is it
to train flexibly in psychiatry without affecting my career
progression? Dr Lucy Watkin, Finance Officer of the College’s Women
in Psychiatry Special Interest Group will address this issue this
together with a core trainee. Other questions (What is daily life
as a psychiatrist really like? What range of job opportunities are
there within psychiatry?) will be answered by core and higher
trainees, with the final question (Why has psychiatry been given a
bad press?) debated by Dr Peter Byrne, the College’s Public
Education Committee chair, and Dr Stephen Ginn blogger at
http://www.frontierpsychiatrist.co.uk/
The event is geared at
medical students, foundation doctors, and core trainees in other
specialties. We are also encouraging psychiatric trainees and
consultants to attend in order to join in the debate and answer
students’ questions during the drinks. Tickets are free for RSM
medical students and £5 for all other medical students; £5 for
trainees who are RSM members and £10 for all other trainees. If you
know of other medical students who might be interested in this
event do pass on this information.
The link to the programme is at:
http://www.rsm.ac.uk/academ/pyb01.php
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9. A year in the life of...University of Leicester’s Psychiatry
Society
Natalie Orr, third year medical student, University of
Leicester
Ian Randall, fifth year medical student, University of
Leicester
Leicester PsychSoc was first started just over a year
ago when around a dozen students in all years of their medical
degree met and decided that Psychiatry needed its profile raising.
The society’s aims were to raise mental health awareness within the
student body, encourage interest in Psychiatry as a profession in
the medical school and promote mental wellbeing in the young local
community. We all felt it was really important to integrate
students studying all related subjects within the mental health
field, (including psychology, law, criminology and sociology) as
our medical school has always emphasized the importance of a
multidisciplinary approach to healthcare.
PsychSoc wanted to work
with local schools, discussing mental wellbeing with 14-18 year
olds through interactive lectures and classroom group sessions. We
contributed to the Personal and Social Education element of the
curriculum, covering several topics: coping with stress, time
management, positive self image and friendships. We visited two
local colleges to hold half-day workshops working with several
hundred students, so far about 20 medical students have visited
either Jonathan North Community College or Guthlaxton College and
were very well received at both, gaining new skills and valuable
feedback which was both positive and constructive.
In the past year we have
held two evening events for students, one featuring practicing
psychiatrists discussing their career paths, the training
opportunities available for new graduates and some interesting
anecdotes about some of their more challenging patients. We tempted
students to attend to “A Whistle-stop Tour of Psychiatry” with the
promise of free sweets and refreshments and managed to collect a
substantial mailing list for the society by the end of the
night.
This semester’s evening
event was also popular, “From Mental Illness to My Medical Degree”
attracted nearly 70 students to hear four very different personal
experiences of current Leicester medical students who had either
given and received mental healthcare prior to and during their
degree. Students were treated to interactive presentations
explaining the ins and outs of drug abuse, the work speakers had
undertaken in Rampton Secure Hospital and on an acute psychiatric
ward. Also, we were privileged to hear a student’s story of
suffering and recovering from severe depression, which was
insightful, sometimes painful and incredibly moving. The lively
Q&A session that followed sparked much energetic debate about
the nature and challenges of mental illness and crime. It was
fantastic to see member’s enthusiasm to contribute to the event and
gain the most from our speakers. As a result of this event, we’ve
had several interesting speakers volunteer their time for future
events, helping to establish our evening speakers programme for the
next academic year.
Talking about mental
health with students and teenagers is not easy, and we were often
faced with dismissive attitudes towards psychiatry from some of our
peers. We also found a real difference in the number of students
expressing a passing interest and the number who attend events but
we tackled this problem head on. The persistent advertising
coordinated by our extremely persuasive publicity reps and the
food, drink and freebies we’ve been able to provide thanks to the
College’s generous sponsorship have meant we’ve managed to really
increase the number of students regularly involved. Through the
enthusiasm of our members and speakers to discuss and educate,
we’ve hopefully managed to change a few attitudes and spark some
interest in the career and mental health as a whole.
PsychSoc has a lot to
look forward to, including recruiting new first years in September
and getting lots of students in contact with our local trust’s
Psychiatry Recruitment Strategy Group. We are also currently
liaising with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to expand and
adapt our workshop material so that we can continue visiting local
schools next year. On top of this, we intend to work with the
University Welfare Service to help combat mental health stigma and
promote the wide range of available support at University of
Leicester for students in need.
Contact:
Leicesterpsychsoc@gmail.com
http://www.lusuma.com
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10. Elective report: the Tavistock centre
Claire Pocklington. FY1 Queen’s Hospital, Romford
When the time came
around to organise my two-month elective I knew without doubt that
I wanted to do something psychiatry related, but what exactly? I
passed on the opportunity to travel the world and instead chose
something just as foreign but closer to home - psychodynamic
psychotherapy at The Tavistock Centre, London. I had distance
memories of Freud from A-level psychology and so was interested and
intrigued to find out more. Psychotherapy did not feature in my
psychiatry placement therefore my elective provided the perfect
opportunity to learn and experience something new.
Psychotherapy has moved
on from the days of Freud and his pioneering psychoanalytic theory.
Increasing healthcare costs and waiting times has led to increased
emphasis on the use of short-term psychotherapies, such as brief
psychodynamic psychotherapy (BPT). The demands of an evidence-based
driven healthcare system require treatments to have empirical
research demonstrating effectiveness and efficacy. BPT is lacking
such research.
Unlike pharmacological
management the action mechanisms of psychotherapy are not
understood. With guidance and encouragement from my supervisor,
Prof Peter Hobson, my elective project explored the concept of
therapeutic adherence. Therapeutic adherence refers to the
techniques used by a therapist; are they in accordance and
characteristic to the therapeutic model of BPT? Measuring
therapeutic adherence is a reflection of what a therapist actually
does in therapy and will make it possible to identify the active
components that lead to therapeutic change.
I spent two months being
submerged in psychodynamic psychotherapy and becoming somewhat of
an expert in therapeutic adherence (well the literature at least).
I researched and helped develop a tool, known as an adherence
scale, to measure what techniques therapists’ use in BPT. I was
permitted to observe therapy sessions and was very privileged to be
able to attend many clinical and scientific meetings as well as a
lecture series about the development of psychoanalytic theory.
My elective opened my
eyes to a subspecialty of psychiatry that is challenging and
thought provoking whilst also providing firsthand experience of a
more qualitative approach to research. I found the research side to
be just as interesting and rewarding as psychotherapy. The skills I
learnt are valuable and will be put to good use in the future.
Psychotherapy has given
me a new perspective and approach to people in general and not just
those who have mental health problems. This would be beneficial for
everyone. A main attraction to a career in psychiatry for me is how
a patient is viewed holistically and as a person rather than a
symptom or disease process. I feel that psychotherapy encompasses
this full heartedly. My time at The Tavistock has been amongst the
best and most enjoyable of my whole medical degree. I left knowing
more about psychotherapy and gaining a new interest in research
methodology. I would thoroughly recommend anyone to gain such
exposure to psychotherapy.
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11. Upcoming events
The Art of Psychiatry
This year’s London
Deanery School of Psychiatry Annual Trainee Conference is being
held on 3 November 2010 in the Cumberland Hotel Marble Arch London.
The theme is ‘The Art of Psychiatry’ and during the day we will
explore how the creative arts can be used to understand and treat
mental disorder. Topics under discussion will be comedy, film,
poetry, literature and fine art.
As well as psychiatry trainees, the London
Deanery is inviting medical students from London medical schools to
attend the conference free of charge. Further details can be found
at the conference webpage and online registration is now open.
The Past, The Present and The Future-Perfect of Psychiatry
This is the Annual East
of England Psychiatry SpR conference, being held on the 22 October
at the Clinical School, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. The
title this year is "The Past, The Present and The Future-Perfect of
Psychiatry". It's open to anyone and there are also free places for
medical students.
For full details of the conference, speakers
and how to register, please follow the link below:
East
of England SpR conference
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12. Opportunity to join the editorial team of the student
associate newsletter
We are looking for a new
team of student associate and foundation trainee members who would
like to join the newsletter editorial team. Successful candidates
should have a keen interest in psychiatry and be willing to
contribute to the quarterly newsletter. They should also be able to
commit to reviewing and editing the newsletter four times a year.
If you would like to be considered for this position, please send
200 words explaining why you think you are a suitable candidate to
ptc@rcpsych.ac.uk
by 30 October 2010.
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The RCPsych
Student Associate Newsletter Editorial Team October
2010:
Sacha Evans
Fizzah Ali
Samyami Chowdhury
Emma Hogan
Roxanne Keynejad
Jonathan Nicol
Hannah Short
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Page last updated on 19 October 2010
by E Baker-Glenn