The Developmental Psychiatry Course comprises a clinical component, with placements at Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services, and a seminar component, held at Mindful.
The course is held on Wednesdays according to the Victorian school term timetable.
Clinical Component
Small groups of trainees are placed at a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. A Consultant gives an initial demonstration of the assessment process, and trainees observe through a one-way screen. In turn, each trainee undertakes a new case assessment supervised by a Consultant and conferenced with other members of the group. For each session, the Consultant discusses the content, technique and process with the group. By the end of the year each participant will have conducted at least one assessment and observed seven further assessments. When participants conduct assessments, they are required to fulfil liaison, record keeping, and other relevant tasks concerned with the appropriate professional management of the case.
Seminar Component
The seminar presentations focus on normal development through the life cycle, systematically focusing on infancy, the toddler, the pre-school child, the school-age child, adolescence, and parenting. The series of presentations includes attention to disturbances of development and clinical problems relevant to each phase being studied.