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Introducing physical care standards into the MRCPsych curriculum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Ayesha Rahim*
Affiliation:
Greater Manchester West Foundation Trust, Meadowbrook Unit, Stott Lane, Salford, Manchester M6 8HD, email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Type
The columns
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2008

With the recent change in the format of the MRCPsych examinations, it seems an opportune time to consider a more radical change to the curriculum: specifically, the inclusion of physical healthcare syllabic content as part of the core medical knowledge items.

Why is it that when the core curriculum for all acute medicine/medicine trainees (Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians, 2007) contain mandatory components dealing with psychiatric illness, do we feel that we are exempt from including physical health from our membership exams?

I have often heard colleagues bemoan the lack of awareness of mental health issues among non-psychiatric medical colleagues, but I feel it is incumbent on all of us to get our own collegiate house in order first.

Although we all have experience of dealing with physical health problems as part of our undergraduate training, and a minimum of 1 year's postgraduate experience, the skills and knowledge gained decay rapidly when used infrequently.

Perhaps the introduction of core topics into the MRCPsych curriculum such as the management of acute medical problems and the longer-term physical health problems associated with psychotropic use would go some way to remedy this.

References

Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians (2007) The Physician of Tomorrow. Curriculum for Core Medical Training and Acute Care Common Stem (Medicine) (Acute Medicine Level One). Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians UK.Google Scholar
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