Physician associates (PAs) are becoming more commonplace in psychiatric services in the UK to help address long term workforce difficulties. In 2019, the NHS Long Term Plan detailed a commitment to transforming mental health care in England recognising that services were not meeting current or future increase in demand. Health Education England's (HEE) report, Stepping Forward to 2020/21: The Mental Health Workforce Plan for England, described a longer-term strategy to expand the mental health workforce, including recruiting 5,000 people into ‘new roles’ including physician associates. The NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20–2023/24 stated an aim of recruiting 140 PAs to the workforce over five years in addition to the requirements specified in the HEE report. HEE and the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) have sought to support the integration of PAs into psychiatric teams through the development of the Inceptorship programme. The aim was to develop a bespoke training programme for PAs to bridge the gap between university and working in mental health to be rolled out nationally.

Since 2018, Sheffield Health and Social Care Trust (SHSC) have been providing an Inceptorship Programme for PAs at the trust. Unlike with trainee doctors, there was no curriculum that could be followed. The programme covers the aetiology, diagnosis and management of common psychiatric problems, communication skills and reflective practice. This programme has provided the basis for the RCPsych Inceptorship Programme supported by HEE.

The SHSC programme has been well received by the 11PAs that have been through the programme, with all PAs recommending other mental health organisations take a similar approach. There have been many additional benefits of the sessions. They allow PAs to gain peer support and it has been a forum to raise issues which often arise when integrating new roles into pre-existing MDTs.

The RCPsych Inceptorship Programme is a PA specific educational programme. It is an important tool in addressing the gap between variable mental health experience as a student (which is limited to a 3-week placement and is variable in content) and working in a psychiatric setting. RCPsych and HEE recommend that all mental health organisations employing PAs implement an inceptorship programme based on the work carried out at SHSC. These should comprise of regular, protected sessions that provide PAs with bespoke mental health training to support their integration into psychiatric multidisciplinary teams. HEE have agreed to provide funding to help organisations facilitate it.

Physician associates (PAs) are becoming more commonplace in psychiatric services in the UK to help address long term workforce difficulties. The 2019 NHS Long Term Plan detailed a commitment to transforming mental health care in England recognising that services were not meeting current or future increase in demand. Health Education England's (HEE) report, Stepping Forward to 2020/21: The Mental Health Workforce Plan for England, described a longer-term strategy to expand the mental health workforce, including recruiting 5,000 people into ‘new roles’ including physician associates. The NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20–2023/24 stated an aim of recruiting 140 PAs to the workforce over five years in addition to the requirements specified in the HEE report. Competence frameworks make the link between evidence and practice and can be a valuable basis for training, an agenda for supervision and a guide for self-monitoring and personal development for people working in the role.

The competence framework was developed by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH). The work was overseen by an expert reference group, comprising experts in training PAs in mental health, PAs, researchers and experts by experience, all selected for their expertise in research, training and service delivery. The completed framework was then sent to relevant stakeholders including the Faculty of Physician Associates and patient groups for comment and adapted accordingly.

The completed framework has been arranged into seven domains: Knowledge of Mental Health, Professional/Legal Issues, Engagement and Communication, Diagnostic Assessment and Treatment Planning, Interventions, Team Working and Metacompetences. This reflects the expected roles and responsibilities of PAs working in mental health.

The Competence Framework for PAs will help those involved in mental health care services who wish to deepen their understanding of the PA role, and will be useful to team members working with PAs, to their managers and to commissioners. It will support the work of PA supervisors and peer coordinators, and those delivering education and training to them. It also brings a level of standardisation of the role. More work will be needed to adapt the Competence Framework for PAs for specialist contexts, such as in dementia care or children and young people's services.

Physician associates (PAs) are becoming more commonplace in psychiatric services in the UK to help address long term workforce difficulties. The 2019 NHS Long Term Plan detailed a commitment to transforming mental health care in England recognising that services were not meeting current or future increase in demand. Health Education England's (HEE) report, Stepping Forward to 2020/21: The Mental Health Workforce Plan for England, described a longer-term strategy to expand the mental health workforce, including recruiting 5,000 people into ‘new roles’ including physician associates. The NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20–2023/243 stated an aim of recruiting 140 PAs to the workforce over five years in addition to the requirements specified in the HEE report. A curriculum for PAs working in mental health would set out the competencies required to work in mental health services.

The curriculum was developed by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH). The work was overseen by an expert reference group, comprising experts in training PAs in mental health, PAs, researchers and experts by experience, all selected for their expertise in research, training and service delivery.

The overarching aims and objectives of the curriculum was to convey a practical understanding of the attitudes, knowledge and skills that underpin the role, thus enabling PAs to offer effective and value-driven support to patients.

The completed curriculum has been arranged into seven modules: Knowledge, Professional/Legal Issues, Engagement and Communication, Diagnostic Assessment and Treatment Planning, Interventions, Managing the Interface of Mental and Physical Health and Team Working. This reflects the expected roles and responsibilities of PAs working in mental health.

HEE and the Royal College of Psychiatrist have recommended all mental health organisations implement an educational programme for new PAs. The curriculum will inform the training requirements for PAs and standardise the training they receive from mental health organisations. It should support the work of PA supervisors and peer coordinators, and those delivering education and training to them. The curriculum will be a dynamic document and work will be needed to adapt it as the role changes, for example with incoming regulation and potential prescribing rights that follow.

Emotional intelligence is crucial for medical professionals. Medical interns are expected to have a high degree of emotional intelligence to face their professional career challenges. Emotional intelligence, often measured as an emotional quotient (EQ), is the capacity to recognize and regulate emotion in oneself. It enables one to monitor own feelings and emotions and others; and guide decisions and actions, and is crucial to ensure a successful work-related outcome or good performance. A higher EQ enhances physician and patient well-being, increases patient safety and augments healthcare teamwork. However, studies about EQ among medical interns are lacking. Therefore, this study intended to determine the level of EQ among medical interns in Malaysia and its associated factors.

This nationwide cross-sectional study recruited new medical interns reporting to 17 randomly selected Malaysian hospitals accredited for medical intern training from January to April 2020. They were invited to answer an online questionnaire incorporating USMEQ-i to measure EQ, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 items (CD-RISC-10) for resilience, Brief-Cope to assess coping styles, PHPQ to assess internship preparedness, DUREL for religiosity, and questions related to sociodemographic and undergraduate training.

A total of 524 from 619 medical interns responded. Mean (SD) EQ score was 3.08(0.58). Significant factors positively associated with EQ include resilience score (adjusted b = 0.65, 95% CI 0.58, 0.72, p <0.001), preparedness for internship (adjusted b = 0.11, 95% CI 0.09, 0.13, p < 0.001), approach-style coping (adjusted b = 0.17, 95% CI 0.11, 0.24, p <0.001), and religiosity (adjusted b = 0.09, 95% CI 0.01, 0.17, p <0.001). In contrast, avoidant-style coping (adjusted b=−0.19, 95% CI –0.28, 0.11, p <0.001) is negatively associated with EQ. Adjusted R2 of 67.6% substantiated the goodness of fit of the regression model.

This study showed that there are a few modifiable factors that significantly influence EQ among medical interns; namely resilience, coping style, preparedness for internship, and religiosity. There is a positive association between EQ and approach coping style, and a negative relationship with avoidant coping. Approach coping encapsulates constructive responses to stress such as positive reframing, acceptance, seeking helpful information, and reaching for emotional support, while avoidant coping includes self-distraction, denial, venting, substance abuse, behavioural disengagement, and self-blame. These significant factors in this study such as coping and resilience can be learned and taught as a skill. These findings will aid medical schools to design programmes and improve the medical education to increase EQ among medical students who will become better medical interns and doctors in the future.

Following mixed feedback from Foundation (FY) trainees during their Psychiatry placements, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust introduced a pilot scheme whereby FY and General Practice (GP) trainees were paired with a current Psychiatry Core Trainee (CT). This was in addition to regular Clinical Supervisor meetings with weekly self-directed sessions encouraged. Suggestions included covering portfolio requirements or facilitating joint learning. The study aimed to improve FY/GP experience through increased learning and relationship-building opportunities. It equally offered leadership experience for CTs and development of supervision skills. Feedback gathered from the initial pilot would highlight difficulties and guide future peer supervision schemes.

All FY/GP trainees allocated to the Trust from April–August 2021 were included. CTs were included by default but given the option to opt-out (opt-out policy). Pairings were made based on locality where possible (group sizes ranging from 2 to 3) and an initial supervisor training session was provided by the Director of Medical Education. Online feedback surveys were sent to all participants at baseline and after the pilot.

44 doctors were included in the pilot scheme, of which 26 completed the pre-pilot survey and 16 completed the post-pilot survey. Expected personal benefit prior to the scheme averaged 7.1/10, where 10 was deemed “extremely helpful” and 1 “not at all”. Following the scheme, experienced personal benefit was valued at 4.7/10. Reported benefits of the scheme were friendship, support and learning, although around a third described no benefit whatsoever. The most common problem encountered was that of being unable to meet and was seen in almost half of cases, with detailed feedback citing rota clashes or working on separate sites. Other problems included poor engagement and feeling the pairing was a poor match. Written feedback stated that the scheme was a good idea and well-supported, however there were challenges with its execution.

Response rates were low throughout but particularly in the post-pilot survey, limiting interpretation. Overall, final scores did not appear to reflect initial optimism. The next cycle will include only CTs who have requested to be involved (opt-in policy), to establish whether this improves engagement. It will additionally incorporate a mid-point review to highlight and address issues at an earlier stage. The scheme is due to be repeated in 2022 and re-evaluated.

Simulation (sim) is an excellent but underused tool suited to key skills in psychiatry such as communication, managing agitated patients and exploring the mental-physical health interface. Access to complex psychiatric patients has always been challenging and this has been exacerbated by the current COVID-19 pandemic. This has further increased fear amongst students creating another barrier to engaging with psychiatric patients. Our aim of the study was to evaluate the use of simulation within psychiatry as the literature in this field is underrepresented compared to other medical specialities. We hope to advocate its use in future undergraduate training.

We developed 3 simulated scenarios for fourth year medical students; these involved identifying lithium toxicity and steroid-induced psychosis in ward settings and conducting an A&E risk assessment. The scenarios were developed following feedback from a focus group of foundation doctors on their psychiatry rotations. Data were collected pre- and post-simulation from a cohort of psychiatry students in this academic year. We assessed confidence levels in 7 domains using a 10-point Likert scale and obtained qualitative data to give context to the data collected.

81 and 83 students respectively completed the pre and post questionnaires. Quantitative data found that the student's confidence in all domains improved from pre to post simulation training. For example, confidence in performing a risk assessment improved from M = 4.12 to M = 7.04 and in making a basic management plan from M = 3.43 to M = 6.72. Qualitative data looked at skills gained, empathy and how the scenarios related to clinical practice. Key themes found improvements in de-escalation skills, handing over and self-reflection.

The study supports the evidence that high-fidelity simulation is an important education tool in psychiatry. As facilitators, we feel that confidence scores improved due to the debrief. The standard tool often used is the diamond debrief however we found we had to adapt this model due to fourth year students not having developed sufficient skills to reflect on complex psychiatric scenarios. Therefore, an adjusted debrief was developed featuring technical knowledge and constructive feedback. In the future, we hope to explore the long-term benefits of simulation and its impact on clinical practice.

The concept of “decolonisation” has gradually evolved within higher education, and can be defined as seeking to discern how historical systems of discrimination have shaped the networks around us, and how to adjust to the perspectives of those who have been oppressed and minoritised by these systems. Our aim was to assess what gaps there are in the Edinburgh Medical School psychiatry curriculum, in order that this might inform our next steps in “decolonising” the curriculum.

We reviewed all the teaching materials used for teaching Year 5 Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh (n = 101). We made a count of the number of people or cases in each resource and the diversity of examples used. We subsequently examined each resource to see if it touched on each of six key areas considered to be representative of a “decolonising” effort. These were the assignment of gender only where necessary, cultural/religious differences, historical context, health inequalities, the patient-doctor relationship and global topics.

Of the resources where each of the criteria were applicable, 18% only assigned gender where necessary or left gender neutral, 4.35% addressed cultural or religious differences, 5.8% discussed the historical context, 4.35% tackled health inequalities, 1.45% raised the doctor-patient relationship and none introduced global topics. Of all the resources that include a direct reference to a patient or case, only 5.41% were explicitly from a different ethnic group other than “white”.

Our results show that all the key areas can be improved on. Addressing these issues has not been a focus for the curriculum before now and our next steps will be to approach each topic in turn and consider how the key areas can be introduced. We are assembling a focus group of psychiatrists and medical students and have designed a survey for students who have completed their psychiatry block.

With time, we hope to cultivate an attitude amongst students and teachers of psychiatry at Edinburgh University that boldly confronts the historical development of our subject, acknowledges those who have suffered for it, picks up on what may be missing or misrepresented, and encourages critical analysis of research. Our teaching materials should include examples which explore stereotypes and challenge prejudices. By broadening our repertoire, confronting the darker parts of our history, listening to those with quieter voices, and paying attention to lived experience, we can foster a culture of teaching and learning which is open, flexible and humble.

Generation Z and millennials are tech-savvy and they learn more from videos compared to books. On average young people from the digital age spend more than five hours on digital gadgets. Innovative use of social media technology will improve the access to health information amongst this group of users. This article aims to share the project of using short video clips in social media, combined with poetry to improve mental and physical health literacy.

Short video clips (ranging from one to three minutes) were produced out of passion by the first author using the elements of poetry, rhyming, humour, artistic expressions, simulated play of clinical scenarios and news reporting style which depends on the creativity and suitability of the content. The production process includes initial conceptualisation, script drafting and editing, video-recording using a smartphone, and subsequent editing using phone and Canva software. Subtitles and captions were added to increase accessibility. The videos were uploaded in Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok under the name of “dr_lokai”. There is no external funding involved. The cost involved included subscription of editing software and the purchase of recording equipment.

The project was first conceptualised in 2014. Total videos produced so far is 70. The topics of mental health included both normal psychological topics (mental health, self-reflective practice, self-motivation, self-compassions, and self-actualisation) and disorder-related topics (delirium, generalised anxiety disorder, emotionally-unstable personality disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder); while the physical health topics included cardiology, dermatology, infectious diseases, etc.). There were also videos on stigma, interesting contemporary topics around public health and healthcare education. One of the videos was a collaborative work with The Royal College of Physicians, elaborating on the personal and non-clinical facet of journey in medical school. As of the day of submission, the number of followers was 1710. Qualitative feedback from the audiences was generally positive. There were frequent requests from audiences for videos on specific medical topics.

A creative generation requires a creative approach in outreach. The strength of this initiative is the low-cost production nature and it is freely accessible by anyone with internet access. In the future, more videos which involve debunking medical myths and history of medicine can be added. The main challenge is finding time to write the script, rehearse and record. Although the effectiveness and efficiency of this innovative initiative requires a systematic evaluation, passions in sharing medical knowledge using social media have kept this initiative alive.

In the face of constant and rapid changes in the landscape of medical practices especially psychiatry, innovation and creativity are essential competencies for all trainees to remain future-proof and competent in facing the future healthcare-related challenges. Recognising this, the General Medical Council (GMC) has highlighted the need for trainees to undertake any form of quality improvement initiatives to improve patients’ care, which trainees can struggle with. This article is aimed to share the authors reflective experience on how to improve their creativity during their training in psychiatry.

This is a self-study based on the authors’ personal reflections on experiences on promoting innovation and creativity in academic and non-academic work.

One of the beginning points of learning how to be creative is to learn from others on how to formulate a question that can be answered using research. It can be achieved by reading journals, attending conferences, and watching up-to-date webinars. By modelling others, their ideas can be translated to local practice through adaptation which essentially involves the process of innovative work. Once a person has become more adept in asking questions, deliberate observation in clinical practice helps to consolidate creativity and ideas. With an appropriate level of curiosity, everyone's experience can potentially be transformed into research questions. Effort needs be invested to review available literatures. This will help to construct a clear picture of what is available and what is the gap that has yet to be filled in, i.e., the opportunity of improvement through innovation and creativity. Working in groups allows collaborative problem-solving approaches, which is a good platform to spark new ideas. It is common to encounter obstacles and pitfalls where perseverance is crucial as a trainee can explore alternative ways of problem-solving, which again is a source of innovation.

From the experience of the authors, a broad-based creative exploration is helpful at the initial stage and further narrowing of focus once a creative idea has taken off is important to ensure the vision of a project is achieved. Erich Fromm once said creativities requires the letting go of certainties. The core nature of psychiatry, i.e., the uncertainties is not a limitation but an opportunity to be capitalised. Rather than telling ourselves what is not possible, ask the question of “how can I do this differently”.

Many of the competencies that trainees in psychiatry are required to achieve can be linked to leadership in the broadest sense, yet specific training is not often systematically provided. The West Midlands Psychiatry Leadership Development Programme aims to support the acquisition of important leadership skills already set out in the curriculum through provision of high-quality specialist leadership content within the existing programme. Here we present the findings of a scoping exercise exploring the views and attitudes towards leadership training held by higher trainees in psychiatry within the West Midlands.

All psychiatry higher trainees within West Midlands Deanery were invited to complete an anonymous online survey using Survey Monkey in November 2021. This survey incorporated questions about their preferred learning styles, confidence in their leadership skills and barriers to accessing leadership opportunities, generating both quantitative and qualitative data.

Key results included:

• • 37 responses were received. All subspeciality training programmes were represented. Almost half of respondents (46%) were ST6 or above and most were in training full time (84%).

• • Trainees expressed a preference for experiential learning about leadership (87%) as well as small group teaching (62%) and interactive workshop style content (62%).

• • Awareness of leadership opportunities was typically via their peer group (81%) or clinical supervisor (60%). Only 52% of trainees were aware of leadership opportunities within the Deanery.

• • Only 54% felt that existing leadership training met their curriculum requirements. Less than half of trainees (46%) felt confident to evidence their leadership experience within their training portfolio.

• • One-fifth of trainees (21%) reported experiencing barriers to leadership development. These included: inadequate awareness of opportunities, lack of senior support, time constraints and difficulty matching interests with available opportunities.

Trainees expressed interest in the redevelopment of a regional leadership training programme which would support them to achieve their curriculum competencies and prepare them for life as a consultant psychiatrist. The new multi-faceted regional leadership programme will offer resources in a variety of formats including webinars, podcasts, optional interactive workshops and action learning sets. It is hoped that this flexible programme, linked to the Medical Leadership Competency Framework, will better meet the needs of higher trainees as they pursue their own personal leadership journeys.

Whilst psychiatry training is both demanding and enjoyable, we feel that the theory does not fully capture what we see in our everyday work. For many of our patients, it fails to contextualise their experience within their socio-politico-economic environment. Working with patients with different ways of seeing, knowing and being necessitates an awareness of one's own and the other's sociocultural world in order to build an empathetic and empowering doctor-patient partnership.

We started a CPG with the hope of exploring resources from those whose perspectives are often left out of our training experience, with a view towards integrating these voices together with our clinical experiences and training program. We aimed to create a space where we could regularly explore the experiences of ourselves, our patients, and the societies in which we work, reflecting on the conscious and unconscious roles we inhabit.

Our aims for the space were to: recognise that everyone will have something valuable to contribute. Cultivate a space where people feel able to share openly. Maintain the safety of the space through compassion and accountability. - Show willingness to be uncomfortable but continue engaging in order to learn together.

In Spring 2021, four Core Psychiatry Trainees from BSMHFT met together to plan a trust-wide CPG. There were three clear cycles of CPG meetings, the first consisting of member led sessions, the second outside speaker led sessions and the third an amalgamation of the two. Meetings were continually reviewed throughout each cycle with more formal evaluation and alteration at the end.

The first part of the discussion focuses on what went well with the themes being:

• – Developing habits of lifelong learning

• – Developing relationships with peers and the community

• – Creating space for self and group reflection

• – Developing transferable skills (leadership, management, teamwork).

• – Technology

• – Communication

• – Engagement

• – Management.

At an individual level, this experience has been challenging but rewarding and we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Locally, the BSMHFT CPG has been invited to work with our trust on their “inequality strategy”, as well as universities and organisations represented by outside speakers. Nationally, the blueprint laid out in our conclusion aims to help those wanting to set up a similar group in their area benefit from our experience.

Core trainees in psychiatry all complete a year of Balint group sessions. These sessions are invaluable, as improved awareness of our own thoughts and feelings is a crucial part of our development as clinicians. We considered that it may have been helpful to have started these sessions at an earlier stage of medical training, for example, in medical school.

We approached the University of Liverpool School of Medicine and proposed a pilot Balint programme with 4th year medical students rotating through psychiatry in Cheshire Wirral Partnership Trust.

Sessions were conducted in 4-week blocks, corresponding with the students’ psychiatry rotations. To allow sufficient time for all students to contribute in each hour-long session, groups were limited to a maximum of 7 students. Each group was allocated 2 facilitators and was conducted on Microsoft Teams because of COVID-19-related restrictions. Facilitators had fortnightly supervision with a consultant psychotherapist.

At the end of each 4-week block, anonymous feedback was collected. Small alterations were made to the programme during the course of the pilot in response to attendance rates, punctuality and feedback.

18 (approximately 50%) of the students from the first 3 cohorts submitted feedback:

• • All said the experience helped them reflect more on their interactions with patients and colleagues and improved their insight into how others think/feel in caring for patients.

• • 94% said they enjoyed it; they thought they would use the skills they had developed; and they would participate again in future if given the option.

• • 83% said 4 sessions was ‘just right’, 11% said ‘not enough’ and 6% said ‘maybe too much’;

• • 72% rated their overall experience of the programme as ‘excellent,’ 17% as ‘good,’ 11% as ‘fair’.

As facilitators, the experience has helped us increase our reflective capacity and gain confidence in leading, managing group dynamics and setting boundaries.

Student experience of the Balint programme was positive for the majority. From a facilitator perspective, we found the experience rewarding and beneficial for professional development. Currently only approximately 1/3 students rotate through this trust and can therefore benefit from the sessions. This pilot study provides supporting evidence for extending the scheme to all 4th year Liverpool University medical students.

Increased clinical contact during undergraduate psychiatry placements has been shown to both increase the likelihood of students considering a career in psychiatry and reduce mental-health related stigma. It can be challenging to provide medical students with a valuable clinical experience, a problem which has been further exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. We aimed to develop a junior doctor mentoring scheme to increase clinical exposure and teaching for students.

Within NHS Lanarkshire, groups of 4–6 University of Glasgow medical students are accommodated for their five-week clinical psychiatry blocks, during which they have a varied structured timetable, providing an overview of different psychiatric specialties. As such, students meet a wide range of clinicians, which can unfortunately mean there is little continuity in their training throughout the block.

We developed a mentoring scheme to help address this issue. Enthusiastic trainee doctors – including foundation year two doctors, GP trainees and psychiatry core trainees – were invited to participate. Medical students are paired with a mentor for the duration of their block, during which they meet informally on a weekly basis. Mentors provide students with ward shadowing opportunities and bedside teaching, as well as completing work-place based assessments (WPBAs), discussing case reports and providing an additional perspective for end-of-block reports.

The mentoring scheme has been running successfully for every five-week student placement since October 2020. Student feedback has been collected via an anonymous electronic questionnaire. Students were asked what they enjoyed the most about their placement, with students frequently highlighting the support from their mentor.

Examples from free-text comments included, “having an assigned mentor was really useful as someone to touch base with and go through clinical cases” and, “having a mentor was invaluable – it is crucial to have a friendly face on the wards and a contact to complete WPBAs”.

Informal feedback from mentors has also been positive with trainees enjoying the opportunity to develop their teaching skills and support student training. Mentors also highlighted the role's benefit for their portfolios and specialty applications.

This simple and cost-free intervention has had resoundingly positive feedback from medical students and trainees. Medical students enjoy having consistent informal teaching, support and feedback. Our mentoring scheme will continue for all medical students in NHS Lanarkshire and we would encourage other areas to consider a similar project. By increasing clinical exposure we hope to further reduce mental health stigma amongst students and inspire the psychiatrists of tomorrow.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted medical education with teaching moving online. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether online simulation is an effective tool for the delivery of student psychiatric clinical skills teaching. This has important implications for the future planning of psychiatric clinical skills teaching.

162 students were divided across nine online psychiatric simulation sessions held over a four month period. The sessions lasted 3.5 hours and consisted of three simulated scenarios with a professional actor and experienced facilitator. Students were asked to rate: confidence in taking a psychiatric history, conducting a mental state exam, formulating treatment plans, conducting risk assessment, assessing capacity and communicating with patients in psychiatry. Confidence ratings were completed pre and post session on Likert scale (1 = least confident, 10 = most confident). Students were also given the opportunity to provide qualitative feedback after the sessions. The study was conducted with permission from Associate Dean for Undergraduate Teaching and QMUL Centre Lead for Psychiatry.

137 (92.7%) of students attending the workshop completed pre-session questionnaire and 122 (82.4%) completed post-session questionnaire. 95.1% students rated workshops as good/very good. Pre and post confidence comparisons showed significant increases in average confidence for all questions from pre (M = 5.1, SE = 0.2) to post (M = 7.1, SE = 0.2), t = 10.7 p < 0.001. Paired t-tests were used to compare average pre and post-session results for individual questions from the same session. All questions showed significant increases in scores. Qualitative feedback indicated that students valued the opportunity to practice, obtain feedback and requested more sessions.

Results show significant increases in confidence in psychiatric clinical skills using online psychiatric simulation. This supports our hypothesis that online simulation is an effective tool for delivery of student psychiatric clinical skills teaching. Students may benefit from online simulation increasing their confidence prior to attending psychiatric placements. This teaching method will also provide an additional method for practising clinical skills with increasing student numbers and demands on psychiatric placements. It therefore has important implications in the future of psychiatric education and could be adapted for use across clinical years and medical schools.

To assess the learning needs of the memory team multidisciplinary (MDT) staff working in South East Wales, in relation to diagnosis of dementia, types of dementia, anti-dementia medications and risk associated with dementia.

An online anonymised survey was designed and distributed via email among memory team MDT staff of 3 different health boards of the South East Wales area which included Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.

The survey was designed to gather information about their understanding of the common type of dementia, treatment with medication, indications and cautions related to medications, the potential side effects and risks associated with Dementia. The survey had a mixture of `Likert Scale` format with free text segments where their opinion was sought in their own words.

Twenty-one (21) staff members responded to the survey. The majority (16) were psychiatric nurses, rest were psychologists and support workers.

Thirteen (13) staff members reported they feel confident in identifying subtypes of dementia whereas the rest reported they can benefit from additional knowledge. Majority of staff felt they understood the indications of anti-dementia medication side effects of medications and risks associated with Dementia but do not fully understand the contra-indications and cautions related to anti-dementia medications.

Participants suggested that regular teaching, lectures and updates should be arranged especially targeting the diagnostic criteria, medication and risk assessment. Sessions providing bite-size information on a regular basis to build on their knowledge base were suggested.

Participants also suggested shadowing doctors and consultants in memory clinics as a useful tool to improve their knowledge base.

MDT staff working with memory teams are at the front line of screening, assessments and providing help and treatment to patients and their families. It is important to make sure our staff are equipped with evidence-based accurate knowledge and training.

This survey study indicated that MDT staff working within the memory team appreciate more training and helped identify the specific areas and mode of teaching required.

Prescription of medication may be seen as a doctor's responsibility but we need to ensure our MDT staff has up to date knowledge of types of medications used, their indications, contra-indications, monitoring requirements, and side effects.

Regular teaching, online modules and experience of shadowing with doctor's clinics should be offered to all the MDT staff.

As a medical student from a local university, the first author undertook a mental health education course, i.e. OpenMinds at the King's College University. The aim of the course is to improve literacy about key mental health issues that children and adolescents face and the stigma against mental illnesses. Upon completion of training, a medical student will be able to lead intervention workshops to share the mental health knowledge with local school audiences on these issues, promote early detection of mental illnesses among the audiences and their peers with the aim of improving health-seeking behaviour by providing information of where to access help to reduce the duration of untreated illness. This article is aimed to describe the personal reflective experience of a medical student and the lessons learnt.

The OpenMinds course was an eight-week workshop on important mental health topics such as depression, anxiety, coping strategies and psychosis. This was followed by a session on effective teaching detailing various techniques including maintaining children's concentration, increasing engagement by utilising different learning techniques, safeguarding and maintaining well-being during conversations about difficult and sensitive topics.

After attending the OpenMinds educational workshop, the first author had delivered three workshops (one primary school and two secondary schools) as part of the bigger organising team from the other university. Overall, the verbal feedback from the local schools on the workshops was positive (Kirkpatrick's evaluation outcome level one). The challenge faced was virtual teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic which meant not being able to read facial expressions or body language while delivering information. This limitation could be mitigated by having a trained teacher moderating the sessions on-site and making sure the workshops ran smoothly. Online lessons emphasised the use of technology which was proven to be useful as videos and other audiovisual aids had the ability to keep the children engaged and provide different sources of learning concurrently.

Having participated in this course, the first author has learned teaching skills and a better way of communicating mental health issues to vulnerable audiences. Although face-to-face workshops are still not possible at the time of writing, the first author is keen to set up an OpenMinds branch at his university and be able to share with his fellow colleagues these skills in the future.

A lot of healthcare students are interested to have early involvement in research and one of the common obstacles is getting access to a mentor who can help them venture into academic work. Therefore, the Young Academician Network (YAN) project has been conceptualised in November 2020 after an opportunistic email communication between a medical student and a psychiatrist registrar, with the vision of creating a sustainable ecosystem of mentoring in research. This article is aimed to elucidate the journey of the YAN project and the lessons learned after a year.

The word YAN originates from the Mandarin word for “research”, which is the theme for the project. The mission is to train healthcare student research leaders who will be able to lead their juniors into the field of research. It began with a weekly hourly online meeting between the student and registrar with the agenda of brainstorming research ideas, reflections from the previous meeting, reviewing the progress of tasks, and discussions of topics that were relevant to research. All explored research topics were discussed based on SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goals to ensure they were feasible since there was no external funding involved.

The YAN project had successfully published one full article in a peer-reviewed journal and two proceedings in an international congress within a year. Meanwhile, there are two ongoing projects with abstracts produced for submission to different international conferences. The lack and restriction of resources led to the promotion of creativity rather than stunted growth of the project. The main challenge of the project was the difficulty in meeting the dateline due to the busy timetable of different members. Other challenges included the difficulty of striking a balance between vision and reality.

As this is a not-for-profit initiative, a high level of motivation is required to keep the project moving forward. Although the number of participants has not grown significantly, this pilot project has at least shown its feasibility without any funding support. There is a plan for further expansion of the project to recruit more members once the foundation of this project has been established with an adequate number of publications. A more structured and systematic evaluation of this project is needed to provide vital information for further improvement of this project.

The authors hypothesised that medical students may be receptive to incorporating Virtual Reality (VR) within the psychiatric curriculum as a technological adjunct to existing teaching methods. Therefore, the aim was to evaluate medical students’ attitudes towards the role of VR in psychiatry education and training.

In this descriptive cross-sectional online survey, 76 medical students from all year groups across 10 medical schools in the UK answered a questionnaire consisting of 13 items regarding their views on the role of VR in psychiatry education and training, each on a 5-point Likert scale.

96.1% of respondents had received some level of education and training in psychiatry. 57.9% had never undertaken a VR experience before, yet 79.0% ‘agreed/strongly agreed’ that they would feel comfortable using VR at medical school.

71.1% ‘agreed/strongly agreed’ that experiencing the first-person perspectives of psychiatric patients in VR would enable them to develop greater empathy. 81.6% ‘agreed/strongly agreed’ that managing dangerous patient interactions in VR would increase their confidence in managing such interactions in real-world clinical settings. However, students were most ‘unsure’ about whether VR would reduce their anxiety (30.3%) and improve their interpersonal communication (27.6%) in real-world clinical settings.

The majority of students ‘agreed/strongly agreed’ that VR would make educational experiences more engaging (80.3%), improve understanding of content (63.1%), and better prepare them for clinical practice (64.4%).

Most significantly, 81.6% ‘agreed/strongly agreed’ that learning in VR would enhance experiential learning in ways that existing teaching methods outside of clinical settings cannot, and 84.2% ‘agreed/strongly agreed’ that they would rather learn from a mixture of VR plus existing methods over existing methods alone.

These findings demonstrate that medical students believe VR would improve engagement, understanding, and preparation for clinical practice.

VR holds the greatest potential in developing empathy for patients with mental illness and preparing students for dangerous patient interactions. However, further investigation is required to evaluate how educational experiences in VR translate to performance in real-world clinical settings.

In times of restricted access to clinical care, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, VR could play a vital role in teaching psychiatry. The preference for VR to be added to existing teaching methods was the strongest held and most relevant belief to the aim of this study, indicating the readiness of medical students to accept VR into psychiatry education and training.

To review feedback from three Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry educational events attended by medical students and junior doctors, to establish their impact and whether they can influence interest in Psychiatry/Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry as a career.

Three events were organised to a) increase understanding of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry and b) promote career interest in the specialty, aiding recruitment efforts. Two were Face to Face Events (FFEs) whereas one was an Online Event (OE) in keeping with COVID-19 restrictions.

The programme for the events was varied including key clinical topics such as Intellectual Disability, autism, ADHD and epilepsy as well as leadership, management, research and training information. Presentations were approximately 20 min in duration. 31 delegates attended the 2018 FFE, 28 attended the 2019 FFE and 65 attended the 2020 OE.

The 2018 FFE and 2020 OE were primarily attended by medical students whereas the 2019 FFE was attended primarily by junior doctors.

Delegates rated each presentation from 1 (poor) to 5(excellent) and provided comments. At the 2018 and 2019 FFEs we assessed impact on career interest.

• • The majority of delegates from both FFEs agreed that such events helped to facilitate understanding of neurodevelopmental psychiatry and encourage recruitment to psychiatry.

• • The majority of delegates at the 2019 FFE agreed that their interest in a career in neurodevelopmental psychiatry had increased following attendance

• • Attendance was highest at the 2020 OE and overall rating was 4.63/5.

• • Across the events, popular topics were Autism, Career path and Physical Health needs in Intellectual disability.

• • Themes in terms of comments included “friendly, inspiring speakers” and “opportunity for interactivity” (noted at OE).

Both the OE and FFEs were enjoyed by medical students and junior doctors.

Analysis showed key topics such as autism attract interest but also that diverse topics in different formats are important. Human factors that seemed important included inspiring, friendly speakers and a relaxed, interactive atmosphere. OEs are cost-effective and have the potential to attract a bigger audience but may present a challenge in terms of interaction. FFEs impact positively on career interest and this needs to be assessed further in terms of online events.

The aim of this project was to create a Pan-London event to increase awareness and enthusiasm of medical students for Psychiatry as a specialty. In addition to a longer term goal of ultimately increasing recruitment to the specialty once students qualify, this event aimed to bring Mental Health to the forefront of the minds of future doctors.

Psychiatry Teaching Fellows from different trusts created a virtual educational event targeted at medical students in all years across London universities. It was co-produced with the student Psychiatry Societies across the London Universities. This encouraged student engagement from the ground level and fostered an environment of collaboration between students and Doctors. The event was free to attend and was supported by the Royal College of Psychiatry, London Division. The conference programme showcased the various facets Psychiatry has to offer from a global perspective, including Women's Mental Health, Forensic Psychiatry, research and volunteering around the world.

The conference welcomed 263 attendees. 92 of the attendees completed a feedback questionnaire at the end of the session. The majority of respondents were from London universities and fairly evenly distributed amongst medical school year groups. 99% of those completing the questionnaire found the session interesting (scoring 3 or more out of 5 on a 5 point Likert scale). 98% of respondents reported that they found the session widened their view of Psychiatry. 78% were already considering a career in Psychiatry. 96% felt more likely to pursue a career in Psychiatry following the conference (scoring 3 or more out of 5 on a 5 point Likert scale). Open-text feedback indicated that attendees had found the sessions interesting and particularly valued the range of topics.

Extra-curricular events are a fantastic chance to broaden medical students’ views of the specialty of Psychiatry. A virtual platform creates opportunities for audiences to hear from a vast array of expert speakers, which might not otherwise be possible in person, and creates a community of like-minded students in a safe environment. Whether or not students go on to pursue the field themselves later on in their training, events such as this bring awareness of Psychiatry and its impacts to the foreground. It is hoped that, in future, further co-produced events between the Royal College of Psychiatry and university Psychiatry societies, can continue to inspire medical students.