Master of Medicine in Psychiatry

Purpose

The purpose of the Master of Medicine in Psychiatry (MMed Psychiatry) is to enable the learner to develop skills in assessment, prevention, and management of mental disorders and psychosocial contributors to mental health and mental illness. The learner will also be equipped with knowledge on the health systems, the health environment and its impact on mental health service delivery and outcomes of mental disorders. Other skills that will be taught include dissemination of health education pertaining to mental wellness and mental disorders, psychological, social and occupational assessment of those affected by mental illness and health planning to address the mental health needs of the nation and globally. Also a learner with this qualification will also gain the ability to generate new knowledge and innovation.

Rationale

The Master of Medicine in Psychiatry (MMed Psychiatry) qualification is designed to train specialist psychiatrists with capacity to offer medical care in the public and private sector and in clinical, research and academic fields, to apply sound ethical principles in the course of their practice and to teach both Undergraduate and Postgraduate learners in all these fields.

The current human resources for a health plan in South Africa highlights a need for training of more specialist psychiatrists as a direct result of the increasing global burden of disease, with mental health disorders increasingly being identified as a growing cause of morbidity and disability in the modern world. Learners will be drawn from qualified medical practitioners who have gone through their internship and finished their community service training. Once qualified, specialist psychiatrists will practice as experts in clinical psychiatry, academic psychiatry and will be qualified to conduct cutting edge research in mental health.

Qualifying learners with an MMed in Psychiatry will become a specialist employable in public, academic or research institutions as well as capable of sustaining gainful self-employment.

Exit level outcomes will be targeted at meeting the requirements to enter and pass the Fellow of the College of Psychiatrists Examination and the MMed Psychiatry Dissertation Examination, as required by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), in order to register as a specialist psychiatrist who can practice independently.

The learner will be a clinician, manager, researcher and academic who has good listening and counseling skills and is able to apply these skills in the private, public, academic and research fields with good balance and versatility of these skills across these different working environments.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Credit will be given to learners who have

• Passed of the relevant Part 1 of the College of Medicine (SA) or Master of Medicine examinations from another institution in South Africa and can produce a verified academic record of their examination results.
• Had training of one-year or more in an accredited institution or hospital elsewhere in South Africa.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB), NQF Level 8.

And

• Registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

This qualification comprises compulsory modules at NQF Level 9 totalling 700 Credits.

Compulsory Modules, Level 9

• Neuroanatomy, 20 Credits.
• Physiology, 20 Credits.
• Pathology, 20 Credits.
• Basic Psychiatry Psychopharmacology and Therapeutics, 20 Credits.
• Biostatistics and Research methodology, 20 Credits.
• Ethics, 20 Credits.
• Psychology, 40 Credits.
• Neurology, 20 Credits.
• Psychotherapy, 40 Credits.
• Electroconvulsive therapy, 240 Credits.
• General Psychiatry, 60 Credits.
• Special Psychiatry, 40 Credits.
• Child and Adolescent, 20 Credits.
• Consultation-liaison and Neuropsychiatry, 20 Credits.
• Psychiatry of elderly persons, 20 Credits.
• Forensic Psychiatry, 20 Credits.
• Research (Masters Dissertation), 60 Credits.

• Provide excellent specialist medical care in their areas of specialisation.
• Research areas of specialisation.
• Teach Undergraduate medical learners adequately.
• Acquire the basics to become consultants and authorities in their areas of specialisation.

Integrated Assessment

Formative assessments will be carried out over the four-year training period with the supervisor's reports provided after every rotation to the Head of Department. There will be specific practical skills assessments following the Neurology practical rotation.

Summative assessments for Master of Medicine will be in the form of the MMed in Psychiatry - Part I, of which, learners will have to pass after the first two-years of entering the qualification and the FCPsych II, College of Psychiatrists exit examination which the learner may attempt after completion of a minimum of 36 months of vocational training. The learner will also have to complete and pass the Masters dissertation, which would make them eligible to register as a specialist psychiatrist with the HPCSA once a period of 4 years of vocational training has been completed.