The 6 week Psychiatry attachment is based in General Adult Psychiatry services but with the opportunity to spend some time in a range of psychiatric subspecialties including Old age, addiction, child and adolescent, Intellectual disabilities etc. If you have a particular interest in one subspecialty please let your placement tutor know and they will try to arrange for you to get experience in that field.

Psychiatry is a huge and varied branch of medicine and this is reflected in the range of undergraduate placements: some are in psychiatric hospitals, some in general hospitals, some in community based services (some encompass all of the above). Each placement will have its own programme detailing a brief introduction to the unit/team, a timetable and sometimes a checklist of tasks to do – ensure you receive a copy on arrival.

Whilst the core “book learning” for Psychiatry is delivered in the core lecture week and recommended resources, there is more to psychiatry than just learning facts – you need to experience it! The clinical placements are all about getting as much hands on experience as you can. This means interviewing patients, doing clerk ins, joining ward rounds, participating in home visits and clinics and perhaps accompanying a trainee doctor during out of hours on call.

As with any clinical placement, you should wear your name badge whenever in wards or in clinics and you should dress appropriately in line with the local NHS guideline. There is a common (mis) perception that Psychiatry is dangerous. In fact it is a lot less dangerous than some other branches of medicine, however you should take sensible steps to ensure your personal safety. You should be offered and instructed in the use of a personal alarm when in clinical areas, check with MDT staff that a patient you are going to see is appropriate for interview, let colleagues know where you are and use a suitable interview space and don’t let exit from room be impeded.