Fast-Track Psychiatry training scheme?

**simran** · 10-10-2003, 02:51 AM

drat :!:
and i wanted to settle down by my early thirties!

**James** · 10-10-2003, 10:51 AM

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**Bhavna** · 10-10-2003, 03:06 PM

simran to become a competent doc you have to spend a considerable time training, even when you are a consultant life isn't going to be cushy, also you might not become a consultant, you could be an associate specialist, becoming a consultant is difficult. this isn't meant to offend grads but i think that it may be more difficult to become a consultant for grads too, just because of prejudice at the top.

i agree with james about people who arn't good enough going into psychiatry, it is true, there are people who do genuinely love it but because there isn't a lot of competition people who can't get in anywhere else do go into psych. its just the way it is.

james where are you working now?

**simran** · 10-10-2003, 03:18 PM

this isn't meant to offend grads but i think that it may be more difficult to become a consultant for grads too, just because of prejudice at the top.

is it generally a case of the younger u r the less predjudice there is against you. I will be 26 years old when I start me prho year (thats if i get in this yr!)

**James** · 10-10-2003, 03:23 PM

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**Bhavna** · 10-10-2003, 03:34 PM

james: oh right, i was just wondering if you were the PRHO at Heartlands that everyone loves

simran: its just my opinion, i think it'll be like when women started going to medical school.

**dondons** · 10-10-2003, 04:17 PM

is this really true about psychiatry?! i havent even got into medical school yet but i had always though psychiatry would be really interesting and was kind of aiming for it myself- what are the really bad bits i dont know that puts every one off this speciality? has anyone got any good or bad experiences to share? i imagined it would be really hard to get into but is it really a place for rejects?! help?!

**simran** · 10-10-2003, 04:34 PM

i imagined it would be really hard to get into but is it really a place for rejects?!

hey all the less competition means is that it will be easier to for you to qualify as one, and shine as one!

In my opinion psychiatry is a second rate specialty

just because less people choose to go into psychiatry doesnt mean that the speciality is second rate, it only mean that less people choose to do it! no offence meant tho james, i actully valued you mentioning that there is less competition for psychiatry.

but I have done psychiatry, and you haven't.

sorry james, but on what basis are you making that assumption? I have done a combined degree in neurology and psychology, in which alot of time was spent studying the role of a psychiatrist, how imporatnt psychology is in a medical setting, the diagnostic criteria manual that psychiartrist use here in the uk and the usa, how many people will suffer from all the known mental illnesses in this country, and how many millions could be saved by the NHS if GPs received some of the training that psychiatrists undergo. You dont know me so any assumptions you make of me I am going to find very offensive.

**Bhavna** · 10-10-2003, 06:48 PM

GP trainees spend time in psych now, apparently its a really depressing field and also you get loads of people who fake illnesses, i suppose that would be really frustrating.

**simran** · 10-10-2003, 06:59 PM

GP trainees spend time in psych now, apparently its a really depressing field and also you get loads of people who fake illnesses, i suppose that would be really frustrating

another reason why gps spend time learning what psychiatrists know is Recent studies have highlighted that up to 30% of patients with physical symptoms may have an underlying psychological cause, yet only around 10% of general practitioners have experience of diagnostic material (Kleinschmidt et al 1996), highlighting the importance of psychological knowledge amongst GP's.

Gps are usually the first point of call between the NHS and the patient, so it is important that GP's are able to recognise psychological problems, so they can be refered to a psychiatrist.

I know of one case of a women attempting suicide by an overdose of sleeping pills prescibed to her by her GP. She had her stomach flushed out in hospital, the hospital tells her GP.

The gp then continuied prescribing her with sleeping pills, and did not refer her to see a psychiatrist :!: