Clinical attachment for students is for a period of
six weeks.
Here are some tips for the students to follow during their clinical attachment,
from the course coordinator.
Please remember:
- you will not be wearing a white coat - dress responsibly
- ask politely and you are more likely to be rewarded
- always ask patients whether they are prepared for you to be involved.
Your time in Psychiatry is designed to:
- acquaint you with a variety of psychiatric disorders
- accustom you to interviewing patients with psychiatric disorder
- teach you to carry out mental status examinations
- enable you to watch mental health professionals at work
- give you an opportunity to think about the interactions between biological, psychological,
social, cultural and spiritual influences in the experience of psychiatric illness.
Suggested
structure for students to follow
Week 1
Get acclimatised. Introduce yourself to staff, find out the rules and habits that
you will need to follow.
Talk to
two or three patients every day, remembering to introduce yourself clearly, and
to ask for permission.
Aim to spend 10 - 15 minutes initially, finding out only one or two parts of the
whole history to begin with. Patients may like a chance to talk about the impact
of their illness on their family, or the advantages and disadvantages of their medication,
or what they think about medical education. In other words, use this week to find
your feet and relax. If you feel ready, ask your registrar whether you can spend
an on-call night
working with him/her.
Weeks 2 and 3
Increase the time spent with patients as you feel able. By the end of the third
week you should be able to cover present symptoms, past history, family history
and personal history without exhausting either yourself or your patient!
Now that you are more part of your work environment, you should be able to find
opportunities to go with members of staff and watch their work often. Wherever possible,
discuss cases.
You should now be organising your observations
into mental state examinations reasonably
easily.
Arrange one night on-call work per week with your registrar. Acute psychiatry is a
different world, and you will learn much from it.
Start writing your
first case history. Follow the template found in the student notes. Ask your
consultant and or registrar to critique it. Discuss with your consultant your
performance for the past two-three weeks. If you have deficiencies, this is the best
time to address it. Start identifying a topic for your CAT.
Week 4
Begin your second case history. This is the week to round out your clinical experience
- perhaps with a home visit if you have not yet done one, or with taking part in
a family meeting. Try to increase your knowledge of multicultural issues this week.
Widen your experiences by swapping with a person from another service for a day
if possible. Ask permission from the consultants involved before you swap with someone
from another service.
Weeks 5 and 6
Consolidate your experiences in all areas. Complete your logs. Continue to schedule
weekly on call experiences. Discuss your CAT with your team.
Log
You are expected to keep a log of your clinical experience. You have been provided
with a structured logbook to provide guidance about the types of experience you
should have. Please talk to your registrar and consultant about your activities
and use the logbook to focus your discussions.
During your clinical attachment, you should aim to see as wide a variety of patients
as possible. If you are in a very defined specialty area you should arrange visits
to more general units with your colleagues.
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