Four years of hard work have culminated today in the launch of the Royal College of Psychiatrists 2022 curricula.
The new curricula are shorter and simpler than the previous ones, which were often overlooked. The rules that oversee core and specialty psychiatry training have been moved out of the curricula and into the College’s Silver Guide. The Curricula Implementation Hub contains resources and training on all aspects of the new curricula.
Flexibility and personalisation are at the heart of the new rules and curricula. Mandated requirements have been replaced by recommendations, to ensure that any trainee in any placement is able to meet the demands of each curriculum. An holistic approach, combined with adherence to the College’s values for psychiatrists, are central to each curriculum.
Dr Subodh Dave, Dean of the College, said:
“The new curricula have at their heart a person-centred ethos, with key capabilities tailored to deliver personalised care for patients and personalised professional development plans for learners. Our new curricula speak to our identity as psychiatrists – integrating psychosocial sciences and neurosciences. Ensuring that our curricula help deliver improved patient outcomes has long been one of my cherished goals. I am really pleased that in our new curricula we have a world-leading set of learning outcomes that place the individualised care of patients in a population context at the core of training for all future psychiatrists.”
Over the course of the next two years, most trainees aside from those about to complete core or higher training will move to the new curricula – guided at all times by their Trusts/Health Boards and supervisors. Everyone who needs to transition must have done so before August 2024.
Dr Ian Hall, Chief Examiner, said:
“The new curriculum has enabled us to start working on a new syllabus for the CASC exam, which will include a new emphasis on a personalised approach to patient care, and the interaction between physical and mental health.”
Trainees will notice that the Portfolio Online platform now directs them to a placement-specific personal development plan where all their development activities and evidence are collated against the High Level Outcomes and key capabilities of the new curricula. Supervisors will create the Psychiatric Supervision Report from within this PSPDP, saving time for trainees as the process is automatic, and providing a visible summary of end of year evaluations and the trainee’s development.
Dr John Russell, Associate Dean for Curricula, who led this work, said:
“The changes we have made will put the new curricula at the heart of psychiatry training. I’m excited to see our vision being realised and would like to thank the many, many people who have contributed to this achievement.”
For further information, please contact:
- Email: webteam@rcpsych.ac.uk
- Twitter: @rcpsych