Psychiatry

Our psychiatry placement block is drawing to a close and I have found it a truly transformative experience. In a short space of five weeks psychiatry has gone from a topic that I knew very little about, to being my top choice for a future specialty. As part of my psychiatry experience I was placed in different wards and mental health hospitals to experience a broad range of patient presentations in different settings. Seeing how health care professionals worked with patients and each other was enlightening, giving me a new perspective on this specialty.

I suppose I hadn’t really given psychiatry much of a second thought before this year but a combination of being allowed to spend more time in the psychiatric environment and being at a stage in training where we are focussing on our potential career choices definitely made me consider it a realistic specialty choice. In any case, when starting a new placement block I always like to approach it in an open-minded fashion. I do this for two reasons; firstly, I find I will always get more out of the experience if I don’t pre-emptively discount it as part of my future plans and secondly, it allows me to persuaded by an option I may not have fully considered before now, helping me to make my mind as I proceed through the block. I frequently remind myself that each placement block represents one of our last chances to see a particular patient group before we become F1 doctors on the wards. so it always makes sense to get stuck in and make the most of the experience as you will end up providing better patient care in the new future as a result.

Contributing towards my new found interest in psychiatry are some of my experiences with patients and staff. From seeing those being admitted with an acute psychotic episode to those preparing for discharge after having their complex mental illness finally under good control, I found each unique story fascinating and loved the in-depth thought that each case demands in order to best devise a solution. One of the most interesting moments however was sitting in on a multidisciplinary team meeting involving psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists and nursing staff. Because everyone had a different perspective on the patient they were discussing, everyone’s professional expertise was respected and all had an equal voice in the meeting. The student nurse was listened to by everyone just the same as the consultant psychiatrist. It really felt like patients were being treated holistically with the focus on the whole person rather than just their psychiatric illness.

I was also able to take a week’s holiday during this block which left me feeling refreshed and ready to reengage with the learning. While experiencing a variety of placements in a short space of time can be really stimulating and interesting, I noticed that towards the middle of the block I was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed with the pace. Having the break was so useful and, with the next block being acute medicine, it was the perfect time to rest and reset. I will talk about more of what I got up to on holiday in a future post but for now, psychiatry is complete and I am ready to make a start on acute medicine next week!