Undergraduate | Psychiatry | School of Medicine

Directors of Undergraduate Education (Psychiatry)

Pre-Clerkship - Dr. N. Wijeratne
Clerkship - Dr. D. Hamer
Academic Program Coordinator - Jennifer Complin

Welcome to Undergraduate Education for Psychiatry. All your course materials, schedules and notes and teaching faculty appear on Elentra.

The psychiatry course spans longitudinally over years one to four.

The overall aim is to develop competence in the diagnosis of common psychiatric illness, biopsychosocial treatment planning and to recognize the role of the multidisciplinary team in the provision of care for psychiatric illness.

Given that 20% of Canadians have a diagnosable mental illness in a given year and that psychiatric illnesses make up five of the 10 leading causes of disability worldwide; it is essential to have a good working knowledge of psychiatric illness no matter what specialty one chooses.

Preclerkship Curriculum

Medical students participate in the Year 2 MEDS 246 Psychiatry course which runs in term 4. The course involves self directed learning activities, team based learning events, interactive lectures and clinical skills sessions where students learn to assess standardised patients with mental health presentations supervised by Psychiatrists. The Curriculum will expose medical students to a broad range of common psychiatric illness across the life span including child, geriatric and special populations. The training in pre-clerkship is aimed at preparing medical students for their clinical rotations and imparting core knowledge and skills to assess and initiate treatment for a variety of common mental health conditions.

Clerkship Curriculum

The core clerkship in psychiatry is a comprehensive 6 week rotation with a mix of clinical opportunities that will allow learners to challenge their understanding and interview skills. Interprofessional learning opportunities are available and are part of the students' clinical experience which also allows the student direct patient encounters supervised by faculty and senior psychiatry residents. Currently, hospitals in Brockville, Markham, and Whitby (Ontario Shores) take two medical students each block rotation.

Medical students can also choose to do the Integrated Program which is 18 weeks in duration. The medical student is placed with a family doctor in Kingston, Picton, Perth or Brockville. The medical student fulfils the requirements of the clerkships in Family Medicine, Pediatrics and Psychiatry concurrently. There are also integrated experiences offered in Owen Sound as part of the Collingwood Integrated program.

Medical students are encouraged to review Elentra for detailed, up-to-date curriculum and contact information for their rotation.

Observerships

A variety of full day or half day observerships are available for students who have an interest in Psychiatry and would like to “test the water”. The goal is to improve awareness of Psychiatry and provide an opportunity to experience the practice of psychiatry in either a hospital or clinic setting. This opportunity is open to Queen’s University first and second year medical students.

QPIG

Queen's Psychiatry Interest Group (QPIG) is an AS-affiliated student group that is dedicated to educating first and second year medical students about the field of psychiatry. Specifically, the group is interested in discussing current issues and topics as well as practical career information within the field of psychiatry. The group's activities will consist of a series of 8-10 lunch-hour talks presented by residents, staff, and faculty affiliated with psychiatry. QPIG events not only allow students to further their understanding by asking questions both during and after the presentations, but they also afford students the opportunity to connect with faculty and residents during social events such as wine and cheese and movie nights.