“A year as a Psychiatry RMO paves the way for a better understanding and learning of the different aspects of mental health. It has helped me in my day to day practise in seeing mental health clients. It has helped me deal with a multidisciplinary team. It has laid a good framework for my basic psychiatry knowledge. I recommend this program to anyone, not only to those thinking of pursuing psychiatry, but also to those interested in widening their knowledge of mental health (eg GP, Physician Training, etc). This program will suit those who have completed their internship year, and for those who are looking for diverse opportunities in (eg community, older persons and/or acute mental health, etc). As Australia’s FIRST and ONLY 1-year Psychiatry Rotation, I had the privilege of taking part of the program. I would definitely recommend it as I have truly gained from this experience.” DrEugeneBuenviaje
The Mental Health RMO year is a new program and as such there is a lot of potential to stamp your mark and be professionally courageous, which I really enjoy. Working for Mental Health is a great experience which has taught me a lot about working in a multicultural environment with colleagues from all parts of the world. It's a fantastic environment for meeting new friends and enjoying working life. I would say working with Mental Health is just incomparable by far than any other mental health organisations I have worked for mainly because of the training program for staff from top notch Psychiatric consultants coming from different backgrounds with a wealth of expertise dealing with all mental health issues. Dr Fatima Syed
I was interested in Psychiatry and wanted to do a year as a Resident before applying for the training program to: 1. Get practical experience before becoming a vocational trainee 2. Make sure it was what I wanted to do 3. Enhance my chances of getting on
Once accepted you are asked to nominate a region you want to work in. In my case it was the South and I have worked at the Repat this year on a Psychogeriatric unit and will be on a Community team at Noarlunga for the second 6 months of the year. The year so far has been everything I have wanted it to be. I have been working in a more senior capacity on my unit, doing admissions, attending guardianship board hearings and being responsible for the day to day management of my patients in consultation with the Staff Specialists. I also participate in the on-call and ECT rosters, receive weekly supervision and have 3 hours of protected teaching time at Glenside with the other Psych RMO's every week. Jacob Alexander (Director of Clinical Training) and Kirsteen Knevitt (Medical Education Officer) are passionate about the program and were influential in getting it set up and making sure it has been well organized from the start. There is a fantastic educational program and they are both receptive to feedback and want to know early if we are facing any difficulties in our places of work so they can advocate on our behalf's. Overall the position is ideal for anyone wanting more experience in psychiatry or those who want a taste of it to see if it is for them long term. DrSunnySharma