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Special Topics in Psychiatry (PSYT90094)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 18.75On Campus (Parkville) and Online
From 2023 most subjects will be taught on campus only with flexible options limited to a select number of postgraduate programs and individual subjects.
To learn more, visit COVID-19 course and subject delivery.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
August
Email: continuing-education@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: + 61 3 8344 0149
Contact hours: https://unimelb.edu.au/professional-development/contact-us
August
Academic Contact: Assoc Prof James Olver
Administrative Contact: Ms Deb Menser
Overview
Availability | August - Online August - On Campus |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
This is one of two capstone subject options, taught in the final semester of the Master of Psychiatry course. As such, it aims to help students integrate the diverse knowledge and skills acquired in the previous five semesters to prepare them for their transition to professional practice.
Psychiatrists have diverse professional roles apart from their core clinical role. They require up-to-date knowledge and skills in, amongst other areas:
- the evaluation and conduct of research
- mental health services policy, economics and service provision
- administration and team and service leadership
- teaching of medical students, psychiatry trainees and students of other disciplines, including the skills of supervision and mentorship
- psychiatric ethics
- the medicolegal dimensions of psychiatry, including mental health legislation
- community engagement, e.g., advocacy for mental health care; involvement in public education and debate about mental health issues; the mental health needs of diverse social and cultural groups; the public communication of psychiatric knowledge
- working constructively with other disciplines engaged in mental health care
- promotion of the health and well-being of themselves, their colleagues and co-workers
This subject aims to address these needs by building on and revisiting the material of the previous five semesters (and on the students’ developing clinical experience); and by using diverse teaching methods to promote integration of this knowledge, a more sophisticated understanding and greater competence.
The teaching period itself consists of 12-half day attendances, each half day consisting of two sessions. The 24 sessions will address the diverse topics listed above, will do so in a variety of ways and will involve invited experts relevant to each topic. For some sessions, small groups of students will be assigned to prepare and contribute, every student having one opportunity to do so during the semester.
A variety of formats are used, including: debates; expert panels; mock trials; updates of several fields and subspecialties by relevant experts; presentations by leading researchers about their own research career in psychiatry, but also discussing how to get published and how to advance one’s own career; registrars presenting their own experience of research. History, social sciences, literature and film will be employed selectively to help develop perspectives on the achievements as well as the errors and abuses of psychiatry, and the challenges and opportunities facing the profession.
Psychiatric research will be addressed in several ways. For some students, the Master of Psychiatry (342AA) is a prelude to a research higher degree and this subject will facilitate their transition. For all students, staying abreast of research is fundamental to good professional practice, and this subject will address the critical evaluation of research, literature searches and topic reviews.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this unit students will:
1. Understand more fully the diverse roles of the psychiatrist
2. Know the range of skills needed to competently fulfil these roles.
3. Know how they can further develop those competencies in their forthcoming professional lives. Students will have greater clarity about what profile – or mix - of particular roles they wish to emphasise in their own early career (eg, clinician vs researcher vs administrator), and will have gained useful knowledge of ways to acquire skills relevant to those roles (e.g., relevant people who can guide them, courses, training opportunities etc.)
These objectives and the course content directly address all five course level outcomes:
They will facilitate the professional development of students by providing opportunities to engage in critical discussion of the scientific literature or clinical psychiatry with their colleagues and with lecturers who are experts in the field.
- They will encourage students to become critical thinkers and pursue lifelong learning and self-directed professional development.
- They will provide education about the specific attitudes, knowledge and skills needed to effectively work in the area of mental health.
- They promote research and critical evaluation in clinical practice.
- They will provide students with a broad understanding of the cultural differences that exist in our community and their relationship to its individuals and mental illness
Generic skills
On completion of this unit students will have the knowledge and skill to:
1. Describe and discuss the diverse roles of the psychiatrist
2. Discuss the role of the profession within the arena of mental health care (and health care more generally), including having core knowledge of the history of the profession , of its interrelationships with other professions, disciplines and organisations and of challenges and opportunities facing the profession at present and in the near future
3. Further develop the competencies required for professional practice once they become psychiatrists
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
PSYT90093 | Psychiatric Research Project | August (Online) |
18.75 |
Recommended background knowledge
It is recommended that students take this subject as their final unit in the Master of Psychiatry (342AA), having already undertaken 131.25 Credit Points.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Oral presentation as part of a series of related presentations and discussion
| During the teaching period | 50% |
Written Assessment
| End of the teaching period | 50% |
Hurdle requirement: Fieldwork - either 2 x Workplace Based Assessments (WBAs) by workplace supervisors (approx 90mins each or longer depending on competency) OR 2 x Workplace Practical Activity Log Sheets (WPALs) to be taken away and then checked by the subject coordinator after submission | During the teaching period | N/A |
Hurdle requirement: 75% attendance at sessions (for face to face students) OR 75% completion of online modules (for online students) | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Dates & times
- August - Online
Principal coordinator Mahesh Jayaram Mode of delivery Online Contact hours Total time commitment 250 hours Pre teaching start date 8 August 2022 Pre teaching requirements During the pre-teaching period, students should familiarise themselves with the online platform and may like to take the opportunity to read through preliminary information about the subject and the services and support that is available to them. Students are encouraged to use this time to also introduce themselves to peers and teaching staff and to learn about those they will be studying with throughout the term. Teaching period 15 August 2022 to 11 November 2022 Last self-enrol date 9 August 2022 Census date 2 September 2022 Last date to withdraw without fail 14 October 2022 Assessment period ends 18 November 2022 August contact information
Email: continuing-education@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: + 61 3 8344 0149
Contact hours: https://unimelb.edu.au/professional-development/contact-us
- August - On Campus
Principal coordinator James Olver Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours Total time commitment 250 hours Teaching period 17 August 2022 to 2 November 2022 Last self-enrol date 11 August 2022 Census date 9 September 2022 Last date to withdraw without fail 21 October 2022 Assessment period ends 25 November 2022 August contact information
Academic Contact: Assoc Prof James Olver
Administrative Contact: Ms Deb Menser
Time commitment details
250 hours
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
- Tom Burns ‘Our Necessary Shadow: The Nature And Meaning Of Psychiatry’ Allen Lane 2013
- AIHW 2013. Mental health services in brief 2013. Cat. no. HSE 141. Canberra: AIHW.
- Kate Richards ‘Madness: a memoir’ Penguin 2013
- Nikolas Rose, Joelle M. Abi-Rached (2013) ‘Neuro: The New Brain Sciences and the Management of the Mind.’ Princeton University Press
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Psychiatry Course Master of Psychiatry - Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
Students applying to do this subject under the Community Access Program must meet the course entry requirements to be eligible. Please refer to the Master of Psychiatry Handbook Entry
Last updated: 31 January 2024