| Individual Placement Description | |
|---|---|
| Placement | Old Age Psychiatry |
| Year | F2 |
| Region | East |
| Hospital(s) | Murray Royal Hospital, Perth |
| Main Duties of Placement | Ward rounds on a Monday with consultant where you will get jobs for rest of week. Assess and review patients for mental state. Attend to medical/physical requirements of the patients involving discussion with medical staff in PRI and Ninewells. Planning and interpreting investigations. On-call shifts. |
| Typical Work Pattern | Typical shift is 9am-5pm with a break for lunch (usually 30mins). Covering colleagues' wards if they are at teaching. Each junior doctor has a 'buddy', usually another junior. If on annual or study leave you are responsible for covering your buddy's ward. On-call shift 1 day in 7 days, 24 hours on-call. This involves assessing people brought in by police or sent in by community contacts who feel they need admission. Assessment involves interview, full psychiatric history, and mental state assessment. Also need to assess for alcohol/drug misuse/withdrawal. Work with Acute Mental Health response team to offer suitable follow-up if not admitted. |
| Learning Opportunities | Weekly ward round involves Occupational Therapist and Social Worker so good opportunity for insight into their roles. Teaching every Friday by a junior or senior trainee with opportunity to present. Supervision for 1 hour each week - this is time set aside for 1:1 with consultant to discuss any concerns regarding patients or discuss management of patients or future plans. |
| Teaching | 1 hour teaching in MRH, specifically psychiatric based teaching. FY2 teaching as per delivered education programme. One hour supervision each week with consultant. |
| Unique Selling Points | When working on-call you get the opportunity to see a broad range of psychiatric problems. Acute presentations of psychosis with patients who are delusional is very interesting. Good amount of general medicine involved. Working directly with consultant who will eventually give you your own patients to review weekly and provide feedback. Feel a sense of responsibility but supported at the same time. |
| It is important to note that this description is a typical example of your placement and may be subject to change. | |
