Psychotherapy competencies in trainees in South Wales

A survey of psychiatric trainees was conducted in South Wales based on suggested educational experiences/competencies set by the Psychotherapy Specialist Advisory SubCommittee of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Specialist Training Committee for trainees not undergoing specialist psychotherapy training.

Out of 88 trainees applying for ST2 and ST3 from all five training schemes in South Wales, 40 returned completed questionnaires. None of the surveyed trainees had all the competencies required to apply for their respective ST grade at the time the survey was conducted. Numbers of trainees achieving the suggested educational experiences/competencies were as follows: case presentations in Balint groups, n=5; extended psychotherapy case, n=1; briefer psychology interventions, n=2; paper presentations on psychological treatments, n=3; attendance at psychotherapy unit business meeting, n=3; patient assessments for psychological treatment with trainer, n=8; didactic input for assessment of patients for psychological treatment, n=11.

Trainees from resource-poor regions are disadvantaged when applying in open competition with trainees from regions blessed with better infrastructure and training facilities. It seems unfair to expect trainees to demonstrate competencies for which they have not been provided the educational supervision or opportunity to develop. From a trainee's perspective, it would have been better if the list of competencies had been finalised and circulated earlier, giving trainees more time to achieve them. It would also have helped the trainees if competencies could have been drawn up to reflect achievable standards across the entire UK and not just standards achievable in a select few well-funded and well-resourced regions.