Public Mental Health Leadership: Certification Course

The initial cohort of the hybrid Public Mental Health Leadership (PMHL) Certification course is now drawing to a close, with the final webinar to be held in October. 

The first Certification course to be launched by the College, this sold-out course intends to:

  • enhance the knowledge and skills of public mental health among psychiatrists and the wider clinical workforce
  • generate and empower local champions of public mental health and provide further insights for professional work
  • develop a culture change from an individualised model of clinical psychiatry to a population-based, preventative public health approach
  • train the next generation of multidisciplinary leaders in public mental health by providing them with the tools and expertise to advocate for public mental health.

The course offers six comprehensive eLearning modules including discussion forums and activities; access to a curated suite of existing RCPsych eLearning resources on related topics; a specific BJPsych Advances Collection; and two webinars including a live Q&A session with an expert faculty. 

Feedback received from the initial cohort on the course has been very positive, with the overwhelming majority (circa 70%) ranking the course as 'Very good' – the highest rating possible.

One learner highlighted the best aspects of the course as: "Really interesting, informative, evidence-based, well-structured, relevant and enjoyable! The course has given me inspiration, knowledge and confidence and whetted my appetite to make change."

Learners remarked on the "excellent content, clear and concise structure, amazing resources and signposting for additional study", as well as "[The] breadth and depth of information, interactive and reflective nature of [the] course and mix of media for conveying information".

The blended learning approach of eLearning and webinars was well received, with learners enjoying eLearning discussion forums and activities, and the “knowledge given through examples, not just theoretical”, as well as the opportunities offered by the interactive webinars to enable "really rich discussions about how we will use our learning in our workplaces."

 One learner commented:  “The group discussion this afternoon has been really good. I think we get so little time to meet together and think creatively within the health service, this space was very welcome.”

Following completion of the course, learners are invited to join the Public Mental Health Learning Community, run by PMHIC, which launches at the end of September. 

The Learning Community aims to support local systems in improving public mental health implementation, and to create a space for continuous shared learning among clinicians, public health experts and people with lived experience of mental health conditions. 

The Learning Community will involve a series of learning sets and workshops held over the coming year and is an exciting opportunity for the College to implement change at a local level towards a more preventative approach, with the PMHL cohort and wider psychiatric/public health clinicians.  

Following the success of this initial Certification course, including receiving the ‘Project of the Year’ award at the RCPsych eLearning Awards held during Congress this year, we very much look forward to welcoming the next cohort to the course in 2025 - please do register your interest if you would like to join us in 2025.


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