Teaching Psychiatry to Undergraduates

by Brown, Tom; Eagles, John

• ISBN13: 9781904671992
• ISBN10: 1904671993
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-10
• Publisher: Royal College of Psychiatrists

Summary

Over the last decade there has been a decline in interest shown by UK medical school graduates in choosing to specialise in psychiatry as a career, as shown by the falling proportion of candidates from the UK taking the MRCPsych examinations. The impression currently given by undergraduates, foundation and specialist trainees suggests that the medical student experience of Psychiatry is currently a dispiriting one. A survey of psychiatrists in 2003 highlighted the link between the quality of undergraduate teaching and the recruitment of young doctors to pursue a career in psychiatry. This book contains advice on how to teach psychiatry to undergraduate medical students using a range of different methods in different settings. It addresses some of the theory and practical aspects of teaching psychiatry to medical students. Different chapters focus on: giving a lecture; small group teaching; clinical teaching; problem based learning; and the use of simulated patients and role play. There is also advice on involving trainees and service users in teaching and in teaching psychiatry internationally. The later chapters focus more on issues relating to recruitment. The book's content represents an important step towards the delivery of high quality and inspirational undergraduate teaching.