Free Members' Webinar - History of Psychiatry Special Interest Group (HoPSIG): Future Archives Winners

Founded in 1841, the Royal College of Psychiatrists is celebrating it's 180th anniversary in 2021. 

The College is delivering a webinar on the 12th of August to showcase the winners of a recent competition that the College organised as part of this anniversary, inviting people to contribute their thoughts and impressions of psychiatry and mental health services today. 

“Future Archives” was a History of Psychiatry Special interest Group (HoPSIG) competition. Through these archives the College provides a broad perspective about what mental health care is like now for future generations. 

The competition closed on 30 April 2021, and we have received over 60 entries delivered in a variety of formats including essays, poems, stories, film, paintings and cartoon strips to name a few. The entries were assessed by a diverse panel of judges, including a journalist, a clinician, a patient, and a historian. 

There were 4 winners of the competition, they are Alea (patient winner– not attending ceremony), Rachel Cullivan (medic winner), Karrish Devan (medic winner), Jennifer Parker (medic winner). 

The webinar on 12 August (4 - 5 pm) will be chaired by the President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Dr Adrian James. It will be followed by the winners presenting their winning entries and talking about their inspiration for their writing. 

More information can be found here: https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/about-us/library-and-archives/archives/future-archives

Karrish Devan

Karrish is a CT2 based at the Maudsley Hospital. Prior to training in Psychiatry he worked in Sexual Health & HIV medicine. He has interests in Psychotherapy, Medical Humanities and Teaching. By sharing his experiences Karrish hopes further dialogues about the personal impact of the pandemic will be shared by other healthcare workers. His first experience with an archive was a Time Capsule made in primary school before the Millennium, to which he added a Pokémon card and perplexingly an old penny.

Jennifer Parker

Jennifer has been working as a speciality doctor with a prison mental health service alongside completing an English Literature Masters over the last year; she is particularly interested in the depiction of psychiatry in twentieth century literature. From August 2021, she is returning to dual General Adult and Old Age higher training in the Severn Deanery. 

Rachael Cullivan

I am a medical doctor who graduated from Trinity College Dublin towards the end of the last century! Because I found it fascinating (and I still do!), I specialised in Psychiatry and am a member of both the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland. I also have an Honours Master’s Degree in Healthcare Management and am an Honorary Senior Lecturer with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. I am a Medical Visitor for the Office of the Wards of Court and a member of the Irish Sport Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel.

I currently work as the Consultant Adult Psychiatrist in the Acute Psychiatric Unit of Cavan General Hospital (in Ulster) which manages all acute admissions for the Counties of Cavan and Monaghan. Prior to this I worked for 15 years as a Community Adult Psychiatrist with a well-developed Community Mental Health Team in Co. Monaghan.

I have been involved in training in the Specialty since my own early years as a trainee representing the then Irish Division of the Royal College of Psychiatrists on the Collegiate Training Committee and I remain an International Member of the College. I am a former elected member of the Council of the Irish College of Psychiatrists which was established in 2009 and have served as Vice Chair of their Psychiatric Training Committee. I remain a trainer and examiner with the Irish College and represent Psychiatry training on the Regional General Practitioner Training Scheme Committee.

I have been the Irish College Representative on the Psychiatry Section of the Union Européenne des Médicins Spécialistes (European Union of Medical Specialists or UEMS) since 2010. There I have chaired working groups concerning the current European position on Continuous Professional Development for psychiatrists and the use of coercion in the treatment of psychiatric illness. Other areas of interest include psycho-oncology (I was lucky enough to receive a Fellowship in Psycho-oncology during my senior training years) and the mental health needs of Asylum Seekers.

I have many interests outside psychiatry however: baking (including for my weekly team meeting), gardening, music (choir/orchestra), drama (running drama festivals), book club and walking – combined where possible! Having kept a diary from an early age I believe that history is emotional as well as factual. The importance of recording the feelings as well as the facts of the pandemic attracted me to the Future Archives Contest and I am incredibly grateful to all those involved for this opportunity.