Establishment and implementation of a psychiatry enrichment programme for medical students.
OBJECTIVE
There has been a growing interest in psychiatry enrichment programmes such as summer schools and institutes for medical students in the last 10 years. Evaluation of enrichment programmes shows that they can be an effective method of increasing students' interest in psychiatry as a career. However, despite initial enthusiasm and motivation within an academic department, establishing a programme can be a daunting task. The aim of this paper is to provide a background of how to establish and implement a psychiatry summer school or institute. The steps that can be taken to establish and implement a psychiatry enrichment programme such as a summer school or institute are described and discussed. This includes how to structure a programme, content to include, costs and budget, programme promotion, selection of students and programme evaluation.


CONCLUSIONS
Establishing an enrichment programme can provide academic departments of psychiatry with the opportunity to demonstrate excellence and innovation in teaching and positively promote psychiatry to students and other non-medical academics involved in medical education. For students interested in psychiatry, enrichment programmes have the potential to extend interest and knowledge beyond the curriculum and encourage serious consideration of psychiatry as a career.
Assistant Professor, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
Zaza
Z
Lyons
D001315:Australia; D002321:Career Choice; D006801:Humans; D016730:Program Development / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D013337:Students, Medical
career; medical student; psychiatry enrichment programme; summer school