Clinical research in an academic psychiatry department: some general principles and case studies

Objective: This paper gives guidance for developing collaborative clinical research within an academic psychiatry department. Methods: We describe the experience at the Australian National University Medical School, and present three case studies. Results: The results reveal that general principles include, but are not limited to, intellectual curiosity, mentorship, collaboration and protected time. Conclusions: We conclude that a particular strength of a new research department at a medical school may be close collaborative research within clinical settings

Salt in the soul, steel in the eye and caution towards the winds: a mariner's guide for navigating a new academic psychiatry department

Objectives: This paper describes principles and advice regarding the development of a new academic psychiatry department within a medical school for aspiring academic psychiatrists. We describe general principles based on the experience of the foundation of the Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine at the Australian National University Medical School. Conclusions: Perspicacious leadership and organisation are the foundation for an academic psychiatry department which delivers teaching, research and broader intellectual engagement with the medical and broader community

Achieving Service Change Through the Implementation of a Trauma-Informed Care Training Program Within a Mental Health Service

As evidence continues to accumulate for the association between childhood trauma and long-term adverse outcomes, Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) approaches are emerging as fundamental to contemporary mental health services. To evaluate a workshop designed to influence mental health practitioners in TIC principles and practices. Nursing, medical and allied health professionals completed pre and post measures of confidence, awareness and attitudes towards TIC practice. The workshop was rated as highly relevant and useful to clinician’s practice. Participants’ self-reported confidence, awareness and attitudes towards TIC significantly increased (p < .001) and the perceived number of barriers to working within a TIC framework significantly decreased (p < .05). Child and Adolescent Mental Health clinicians routinely screened for trauma and 80% had received training in a trauma specific intervention at follow-up. This brief training provides an important foundation for the development of trauma-informed, evidence-based mental health services

A new graduate medical school curriculum in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine: reflections on a decade of development

Objectives: The aim of this study is to reflect upon the rationale, design and development of the Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine curriculum at the Australian National University Medical School, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Conclusions: We conclude that the development of the fourth-year curriculum of a four-year graduate medical degree was a complex evolutionary process

Neither the internist nor the Internet: Use of and trust in health information sources by people with schizophrenia

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore health information sources accessed by people with schizophrenia and the level of trust invested in them