You will be able to:

Knowledge:

• Identify processes involved in normal personality development
• Be aware of normal emotional reactions to stress and recognise when these become abnormal
• Explain how different biological, psychological and social factors may combine to precipitate psychiatric disorder
• Describe the clinical features of major psychiatry syndromes
• Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of psychological and physical treatments in psychiatry, including their indications and their therapeutic and unwanted effects
• Describe, in detail, the assessment and management of psychiatric emergencies which may occur in general medical settings, including deliberate self-harm, alcohol withdrawal and other acute organic states, acute psychosis and behavioural disturbance
• Describe the doctor’s duties and patient’s rights under emergency provisions of the Mental Health Act
• Recognise when patients require referral for specialist help

Skills:

• Take a full psychiatric history, examine the mental state, and produce a case formulation which includes a description of clinical symptoms and signs, aetiological factors, differential diagnoses, management plan and evaluation of prognosis
• Adapt a full assessment to situations where time constraints or other circumstances make a targeted history and mental state more appropriate
• Present a case logically and coherently
• Use an interviewing style that is empathic and adaptable to specific situations, including interviewing distressed, disturbed or aggressive patients
• Explain to patients and their relatives the nature of their condition, its management and prognosis

Attitudes:

• Appreciate the inter-relationship between physical and psychological symptoms and the need to be aware of psychological factors in all medical conditions
• Recognise the stigmatisation associated with mental illness and how this can affect patients and their families
• Be aware of the ethical dilemmas and controversies involved in the diagnosis and management of mental disorder
• Appreciate the function of the multidisciplinary team and the role of each of its members
• As you progress through your attachment, acknowledge the importance of the therapeutic relationship between doctor and patient and how the timescale for change is lengthened in psychiatry.