Psychiatry

Transcript for Psychiatry Training in Northern Queensland (video 1)

[Soft music plays in the background]

[Text on screen] Specialty Training in Northern Queensland, Psychiatry.

>> Dr Daniel Gileppa:

[Text on screen] Dr Daniel Gileppa, Consultant Psychiatrist

While I was a junior doctor, I did quite a few rotations around the hospital in different specialties. Very interested by disorders of the brain and drawn more towards odd behaviours that had come from those disorders. I realised, well that’s really kind of more psychiatry.

>> Dr Andrew Amos:

[Text on screen] Dr Andrew Amos, Director of Training (Psychiatry)

Training to become a psychiatrist is traditionally been a 5 year process. We sort of see the pathway of the psychiatric training as a bit of a trajectory. First year you’re learning the ropes – how do I do a basic interview? Then you have the middle years, where people are looking at all of the different types of specialty that they may do. And then in Advanced Training, in the last couple of years, that’s when they really knuckle down and chase one or other of the specialties and work on where they’re going to go in their career.

>> Dr Daniel Gileppa:

Almost every subspecialty of Psychiatry can be completed in the regional areas, so child and youth, addiction studies, most of forensics, older persons as well.

>> Dr Andrew Amos:

One of the advantages of working in a place like Mackay, Townsville or Cairns, is that although there’s not quite as developed systems up here, there are opportunities for having a bigger role in the development of the systems. So, you can really write your own ticket to a large extent.

>> Dr Daniel Gileppa:

As a person progresses through their training, they’re given more and more autonomy. Towards the end of the second year or even the third year, a person would be allowed to function largely independently in a clinic setting.

>> Dr Andrew Amos:

The local community is really involved in helping medical students and doctors develop their skills. So, there’s a whole group of volunteers here who will be a simulated patient to allow a doctor to develop skills and to demonstrate that they’re able to do the things that they need to do. I haven’t found that anywhere else in Australia.

>> Dr Daniel Gileppa:

I think in Psychiatry there is a very strong multidisciplinary team and you do feel well supported.

>> Dr Andrew Amos:

You won’t simply be another face; you’ll get very personal attention, and you’ll have access to some fairly innovative programs that will help you get through your training in the shortest amount of time possible and then set you up really well for being integrated into the local community when you become a psychiatrist.

>> Dr Daniel Gileppa:

So, I’m in a band call The Marias, initially only consisted of medical doctors, that’s now expanded, and we have dentists and teachers and various individuals. It’s a lot of fun to play, it’s a lot of fun to just be around the other band members.

>> Dr Andrew Amos:

Just down the way, there’s what’s called Wildcatz Sport, which is where I play indoor soccer. Probably the thing I’ve enjoyed the most is swimming at the Riverway Lagoon, I’ve always been a swimmer it’s been a very good thing for me.

Anybody that’s thinking of a career in Psychiatry really would be well-served coming to experience that enthusiasm and be part of a program that’s improving things for the community.

>> Dr Daniel Gileppa:

The longer you work in those small towns, the more you get an understanding of how the actual town functions. You do start to feel like you’re part of the fabric of the town, which overall I think it’s a positive thing.

[Text on screen] Explore specialty training opportunities in northern Queensland. nqrth.edu.au

All Psychiatry specialty and subspecialty training can be completed in northern Queensland in Cairns, Townsville and majority in Mackay.

The local community are heavily involved in training. Registrars work with a strong multi-disciplinary team.

This video was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health as part of the Regional Training Hubs initiative. Produced in partnership with northern Queensland health care providers and James Cook University.

[James Cook University crest appears on screen] Northern Queensland Regional Training Hubs. A network of medical training opportunities. nqrth.edu.au

End of transcript

Transcript for Psychiatry Training in Northern Queensland (video 2)

[Medi-Nav crest appears on screen] Navigate your future in medicine

[Text on screen] Why did you choose psychiatry as a career?

>> Dr John Allan:

[Text on screen] Dr John Allan, President, The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists

Really, I started out wanting to be a Paediatrician, however I found that I was actually better at dealing with people’s psychological distress and talking to the mothers and fathers, than I probably was with the really little kids. So, I got an interest in people’s stories and people’s lives and that just became fascinating to me.

>> Dr Wajeeha Zagham:

[Text on screen] Dr Wajeeha Zagham, Registrar, Sunshine Coast

I think I’ve always had an interest in human behaviour and what makes us, and what makes people tick I suppose.

>> Dr Curtis Gray:

[Text on screen] Dr Curtis Gray, Psychiatrist, Brisbane

Well, I was all lined up to do Paediatrics, when I was a junior doctor, but I got a term in Psychiatry for 13 weeks and I just love it. It allowed me to sort of be much more involved with people than I had been up until that point in time.

>> Dr Sarah Beaney:

[Text on screen] Dr Sarah Beaney, Psychiatrist, Townsville

I think probably because I’m curious, and I think if you’re curious you have to do Psychiatry and you just want to ask why.

[Text on screen] What is the most rewarding part of being a psychiatrist?

>> Dr Katherine Monahan:

[Text on screen] Dr Katherine Monahan, Psychiatrist, Metro South Brisbane

There are many, many things. I really like the flexibility is one of the big ones. I like to have control over what I’m working on what I’ve doing, what I’m doing. So, for example, right now I’m a clinical academic registrar and I also work in rehab Psychiatry. I like the thought that when I get sick of that, I can do something else like forensics or acute Psychiatry.

>> Dr Curtis Gray:

Psychiatry is a terrific profession for the sort of breadth of things that you an do ranging from individual patient contact, therapies and that’s both pharmacotherapy and psychological therapies. But also the ability to work with the team and right up to the other end of sort of influencing health systems.

>> Dr Jacqueline Montwill:

[Text on screen] Dr Jacqueline Montwill, Psychiatrist, Brisbane

I think there’s lots of rewarding things about being in Psychiatry, one of them is that connection with the patient. It’s very important that somebody feels like they’re being listened to and understood, and I think that’s kind of our expertise, we get use to it.

>> Dr Sarah Beaney:

I love people, I love the one-to-one, and I love to understand someone’s behaviour, someone’s symptoms. You know, why this person? Why now? What’s been happening? And so just to kind of have that connection with people is amazing.

>> Dr Wajeeha Zagham:

In Psychiatry I tend to have more of those moments where people will say to me, “wow, you really helped me”. And that to me is rewarding.

[Text on screen] What opportunities are there for psychiatry trainees in QLD?

>> Dr Peter Parry:

[Text on screen] Dr Peter Parry, Child and Youth Psychiatrist, Brisbane

The kind of topics you cover in a Psychiatry training program are much more interesting than in a more narrow specialty because we’re covering the whole gambit of things from the biological to the psychological, to the socio-cultural.

>> Dr Katherine Monahan:

There are so many, I think one of the biggest problems is that we only see a small amount of psychiatry as junior doctors and as medical students and that’s probably the pointy end, you know. There are opportunities in forensics, there are opportunities in consultation liaison, there are opportunities in private practice, in public practice, working in the courts. It’s never-ending really. And In fact, I’m still learning all the different options that are out there.

>> Dr Allan Pascoe:

[Text on screen] Dr Allan Pascoe, Consultant Psychiatrist and Addiciton Medicine Specialist, Darling Downs

There’s the opportunity to do advanced training in addiction Psychiatry that will allow you to work across mental health, general medical health services and addiction services.

>> Dr John Reilly:

[Text on screen] Dr John Reilly, Chief Psychiatrist, Mental Health Alcohol and Other Drugs Branch QLD Health

There is an enormous opportunity for people to be focused on the way in which our brain, our behaviour and our life situation can have an impact on health.

[Text on screen] What is important to you in your job?

>> Dr Curtis Gray:

Well, I like the mix of patient contact with working with a team, so the variety is really good.

>> Dr Alvin Laiman:

[Text on screen] Dr Alvin Laiman, Registrar, Sunshine Coast

I feel like I’m contributing to something bigger than myself. Working as part of this big team that where everyone feels valued and that we all share the same responsibility and focusing on the patient.

>> Dr Sarah Beaney:

In private practice you know, it’s just you, you’re it, it’s you and the patient and just to kind of meet someone and to hear their story and to, you know, be able to make a bit of a difference and to explain to them what’s happening and why they’re experiencing what they’re experiencing is just fantastic.

[Text on screen] What advice would you give to someone considering a career in psychiatry?

>> Dr Vinay Lakra:

[Text on screen] Dr Vinay Lakra, Deputy Chief Psychiatrist, Clinical Services North West Area Mental Health Service

Go for it is my idea. We are attracting a lot of young and bright people into Psychiatry. It is a specialty of 21^st century, everyone is talking about mental health as you know nowadays, and you’ll never go wrong.

>> Dr Peter Parry:

You have great colleagues both in the College of Psychiatrists but also you’re working closely with psychologists and social workers and mental health nurses and speechies and OTs and you know, lots of other people in the mental health field and so you’ve always got good companions as it were you know helping the people and the families that we see.

>> Dr Alvin Laiman:

Psychiatry some oft hose fields of medicine where it’s rapidly developing and there’s tonnes of new research every day and there’s still  so much unexplored territory to it and so much potential for growth.

>> Dr Sarah Beaney:

Just come and try it, just come and do some junior doctor or RMO jobs in Psychiatry, you know. Do some inpatient jobs to have a look at, you know, do some intern jobs if you can in Psychiatry, it’s just wonderful and you’ll be exposed to a whole range of Psychiatrists and we’re all really different and you can pick and choose from the best qualities of everybody to make yourself who you want to be.

>> Dr John Allan:

If you’re interested in people and you’re interested in developing your career or interested in things about the brain, just the most complex organ that we have, then you should do Psychiatry.

[Medi-Nav crest appears on screen]

End of transcript