Table 1 Differences in mental health teaching between imperial old and new curricula
Year | Old Curricula Differences | New Curricula Differences | Similarities |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | “Neuroscience and Mental Health Module” – Lectures teaching about Dementia and Depression | Replacement of “Neuroscience and Mental Health Module” with “Psychiatry” module– Lectures, tutorials and workshops on a broader range of presentations (addition of anxiety, bipolar disorder, OCD, eating disorders, self-harm, addiction and schizophrenia) Increased emphasis on biopsychosocial care in redesigned “Patients, Communities & Healthcare” and “Professional Values & Behaviour” modules Novel “Lifestyle Medicine & Prevention” module, with content on mental health and student health Increased integrated student wellbeing teaching | Compulsory lectures and assessment on the presentation of dementia conditions and depression |
2 | “Neuroscience and Mental Health Module” – Lectures teaching about Dementia and Depression | Replacement of “Neuroscience and Mental Health Module” with “Psychiatry” module– Lectures, tutorials and workshops building on Year 1 content with more detail and depth of understanding (addition of lifecourse psychiatry and psychopharmacology) Continued emphasis on biopsychosocial care in redesigned “Patients, Communities & Healthcare” and “Professional Values & Behaviour” modules Novel “Lifestyle Medicine & Prevention” module, with content on mental health and student health Increased integrated student wellbeing teaching | Compulsory lectures and assessment on the presentation of dementia conditions and depression |
3 | Inclusion of Depression and Dementia conditions within yearly Learning Objectives | Expansion of ‘Depression’ and ‘Dementia’ conditions included within Learning Objectives to add ‘Delirium’, ‘Wernicke’s encephalopathy’ and ‘Generalised Anxiety Disorder’ Inclusion of learning objectives on holistic presentations with a mental health component including ‘Sleep problems’, ‘Overdose’, ‘Appetite change’, ‘Weight gain’, ‘Palpitations’, ‘Low mood and affective problems’, ‘Headache’, ‘Alcoholic hepatitis’, ‘Subdural bleed’, ‘Change in libido’, ‘Elder abuse’, ‘Hallucinations’, ‘Terminal illness’, ‘Struggling to cope’, ‘Confusion’, ‘Memory loss’, ‘Mental capacity concerns’, ‘Abdominal pain’ and ‘Driving advice’ | Assessment on the presentation of dementia conditions and depression |
4 | N/A (no difference) | N/A (no difference) | Optional Neuroscience and Mental Health Intercalated BSc degree |
5 | 8-week psychiatry placement with patient contact and weekly lectures on mental health conditions, including stigma workshop | Redesigned 6-week psychiatry placement with patient contact and weekly lectures on mental health conditions, including stigma workshop as well as digital psychiatry teaching, with greater focus on patient stories and diversity of psychiatry encounters | Minimum 6 weeks of patient contact in clinical psychiatry environment, weekly mental health lectures, and stigma workshop |
6 | N/A (no difference) | N/A (no difference) | No MH-specific teaching in Y6 |