Core training
The first years of training in psychiatry are spent in a wide variety of posts to ensure a robust and strong foundation from which to build your chosen specialist skills. Each post during this core training lasts for four or six months and trainees must obtain at least 12 months of experience in general psychiatry in addition to 6 months of older adults psychiatry and a placement in either learning disability or child and adolescent mental health.
They can also undertake posts in any of the other specialties of psychiatry of their choice within available resources in particular trust.
During core training, universal and necessary skills are developed in, for example, assessment of psychiatric conditions, mental state examinations and management of various clinical situations. Basic psychotherapy skills are developed with supervised therapy cases and progress in all aspects is monitored via workplace based assessments (WBPA) on an online portfolio.
Trainees have an identified a supervisor in each post, who is responsible for supervising clinical activity and providing an hour of weekly one-to-one educational supervision. They also have an educational supervisor providing longer term guidance throughout core training.
Assuming satisfactory progress through formal exams and workplace-based assessments, this period of training lasts for three years. Once a trainee has passed the two written exams (Paper A and B) and one clinical exam (CASC) which make up the Membership exams of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, they can become a full Member of the College and have earned the right to add MRCPsych after their name. They are then able to progress to higher training in one of the six specialties: General Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical Psychotherapy, Learning Disability, Old Age Psychiatry or Forensic Psychiatry or dual training.
Core training in the East of England School of Psychiatry is undertaken in five Mental Health Trusts and cover a broad and multicultural area of the country - further details on each scheme can be found by clicking on the links to the right. Our school values diversity and gives the opportunity to develop broad range of psychiatric skills. By keeping each core training scheme within a Trust (or within a sub-region of that Trust) we try to ensure that Trainees have manageable travelling/commuting time between different posts.
For more detailed information about Trusts click here.
Recruitment to psychiatry is through a national process, click here for details
Core Psychiatry trainees are strongly encouraged to attend the Clinical Skills training, details available on the regional training page here
Details about the individual schemes through the drop down menu above, or the buttons below: