With Part II of the MRCPsych examination rapidly approaching, I wonder how far the College has gone in considering reducing the length of training posts to 4 months from the current 6.
Several medical rotations have already embraced this approach in order to provide breadth of training within the limited time available. There seem to be several reasons why this approach might also be suited to psychiatry.
First, having completed the required posts for examination entry, including 6 months in neurology, I am soon to enter my 4th year as a senior house officer (SHO) and would still benefit from experience in forensic, psychiatric intensive treatment unit, perinatal and specialist addiction service roles. Four-month posts would allow all of this experience to be gained within 3 years, and allow time to be spent in research prior to entry into higher specialist training.
Second, competitive posts along with those required for examination entry can at times be in short supply and there will be a continued need for suitable placements to be found for general practitioner trainees, pre-registration house officers in their 2nd foundation year and perhaps in the future SHOs in medicine/neurology. Shorter posts should reconcile some of these competing demands if staffed appropriately while at the same time: (a) increasing exposure to psychiatry among other medical professionals, and access to medicine/neurology among psychiatric trainees; (b) decreasing stigma via familiarity; (c) facilitating recruitment; and (d) reducing some of the historical barriers between psychiatry and the rest of medicine that seem so much of an anachronism today.
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