510-592 Psychiatry

Credit Points

HECS Band

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

The principal objectives are to develop (i) a core knowledge of general psychiatry; (ii) skills in interviewing and in the evaluation of the patient's mental state; (iii) familiarity with principles of supportive care, of counselling and behaviour therapy, including cognitive behaviour therapy; (iv) an understanding of the principles of physical treatment in psychiatry including pharmacotherapy; and (v) an understanding of the problems that people with emotional or psychiatric disorders present, and a positive attitude toward assisting them by the application of appropriate skills and knowledge. Major topics covered include the development process through the ages and stages of life; the family, social and cultural aspects of psychiatry; psychiatric diagnosis, history taking, psychiatric examination and interviewing techniques; common psychiatric disorders requiring care at a family doctor level; serious and/or chronic psychiatric disorders; psychiatric disorders in medically ill patients; child psychiatry; psychiatry and intellectual disability; substance abuse; social, psychological and physical methods of treatment; legal aspects of treatment including the Mental Health Act; and treatment facilities/settings including psychiatric hospitals, community clinics and community based resources.

Assessment

Continuous internal assessment including contributions to clinical presentations, and other teaching activities; a written case history in the fifth week; a one and a quarter hours mental and physical assessment of a long psychiatric case followed by a 10-minute case presentation, and a 15-20 minute clinical examination based on the case. This long case assessment will be held during the last week of the psychiatric placement along with a 3-hour end of subject written examination. Students must pass both the clinical case presentation/examination and the written examination to pass the subject.

Prescribed Texts

• S Bloch & B Singh, Foundations of Clinical Psychiatry. MUP, 1994.
• Victorian Medical Postgraduate Foundation Inc, Psychotropic Drug Guidelines. VMPF, 4th ed., 1995.