Students’ experience of psychiatry at medical school will influence not only their choice of career but also their lifelong attitudes to people with mental health problems, whatever their specialty. So, as psychiatrists, our responsibility for teaching psychiatry to undergraduates is great.
In his foreword, Professor Robert Howard paints a bleak picture of psychiatry teaching, with chaotic clinical placements and reluctant teachers. This has certainly not been our experience and we find many psychiatrists who are keen to teach and passionate about their specialty. Often, though, they do not know where to begin and become disheartened when they receive poor student feedback. Teaching Psychiatry to Undergraduates has something for all of them. It lies between a pocket guide and a reference book; it is invitingly light without skimping on its scope, and does not assume any prior knowledge of educational methods. The introductory chapters cover basic principles and recent developments in medical education, setting the scene by giving a broad understanding of the direction of travel. Those who just want to get on with preparing a teaching session can skip straight to some good chapters on how to give a lecture, do small-group teaching or problem-based learning, with an excellent chapter on the use of computers in teaching and how to create e-learning resources. This is an excellent book for dipping into: each bite-sized chapter is a good mixture of theory and reflection.
The chapters on time-efficient clinical teaching, use of simulated patients and role-play are good value, with tips for teaching in busy clinical settings. It is also refreshing to see chapters focusing on involvement of trainees and service users in teaching; the chapter on dealing with students in difficulty is especially worth reading.
The book is ambitious in its range and not all of the chapters will be relevant to everyone: for example, most teachers do not have control over organisation and funding of teaching. However, for a busy doctor who has not the time or motivation to read the chapters in full, they all include a concise summary giving an overview of the topic.
The authors have succeeded in producing a substantial reference book on teaching psychiatry that at the same time is easily digestible and small enough to carry around in a bag, allowing readers to use every possible opportunity to teach psychiatry as it should be taught to our students.
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