SCOTTISH PSYCHIATRY SUMMER SCHOOL
31 August – 1 September 2012
Feedback
Forms completed: 32
Q2. How did you hear first hear about this event?
University:16 (EEMeC x 2)
RCP website1
Local PsychSoc4
Colleague6
Other (please specify)5- signs in Kennedy Tower; research supervisor; through the co-ordinator of my intercalated BSc; hospital tutor; other Society website (can’t remember which); Lindsay Thomson told me about it for work experience.
Q3. What have you gained as a result of attending this event?
Some inspiration and contacts for small research projects. Peer contacts.
Insight into different areas of psychiatry; introduction to academic psychiatry.
Insight into training in psychiatry. Very interesting lectures. Speed dating.
Better insight into research behind psychiatry.
I have a thorough idea of what psychiatry is about and have gained a real appreciation of its value to the doctors and especially the patients. I recognise it as far more diverse.
I have learnt a lot about the practice of psychiatry. I have also learnt a great deal about the academic basis of this specialty and what the future may hold. This interested me a great deal since there is an impression that psychiatry lacks scientific rigour.
Wider knowledge of the career opportunities on offer in psychiatry.
A greater insight into various aspects of psychiatry.
More in-depth knowledge of the different psychiatry specialties.
Insight into the direction the profession is going in: neuroeconomics; stem cell research; neurosurgery.
It’s given me a real insight into what a career in psychiatry would be like, rather than just about illnesses and patients, which is something I haven’t really been told about before. I also found out a lot about the different specialties, many of which I didn’t previously know about or fully understand.
Such a good event – fun, got a feel for psychiatry and all the subspecialties. (Meal was good too!).
A better understanding of psychiatry.
A better insight into the different sub-specialties of psychiatry.
A sense of the psychiatric community.
A good opportunity to realistically discuss career options.
Significant insight into the nature and future of psychiatry and its subspecialties.
Insight into the non-examined material. Interaction with the different specialties.
A better understanding of the range of careers in psychiatry and where the discipline may go in the future.
A more serious consideration of my own interest and suitability to work in psychiatry.
Greater understanding of different areas of psychiatry.
A greater insight into the various branches of psychiatry.
Overview of subspecialties of psychiatry; details of pathway of qualification; saw enthusiasm and interest of those in the career.
Good to meet with other students interested in psychiatry, and to meet with psychiatry staff. Good advice on future career considerations and elective planning.
Gave me an insight into specialties within psychiatry. Been exposed to very interesting topics.
Further interest in psychiatry. Good for CV.
A greater depth into the types of psychiatry available Met a lot of friends who have in interest in psychiatry around Scotland.
Learned a lot about the different aspects of psychiatry. Meeting a lot of different med students so was able to grill them about their medical course.
Much better insight into the various subspecialties and the training needed.
Gained an overall view of the subspecialties. Met inspirational people, very passionate about the help they provide their patients.
An interest and awareness in psychiatry, which I will take into every medical rotation that I complete. Professor Owens very inspiring.
Q4. What did you enjoy most about this event?
Breadth, strong personalities.
Speed dating.
Speed dating with different specialities. ECT lecture.
Interesting lectures.
Speed dating, neuroeconomics and just the diversity and extensive knowledge, experience and enthusiasm of the speakers.
Learning about the innovations in psychiatry.
Personality assessment and lecture on “The man who thought his shoulder blade was a fish”.
The talks were very engaging and interesting. The variety of topics was brilliant.
Personality disorder talk and the talk entitled “The man who mistook his shoulder blade for a fish”.
Wide varieties of specialties of psychiatry to talk to and hear speaking.
The exposure to different specialties, and the chance to meet so many professional in each. Also the format was great – good length per lecture and plenty of tea breaks! Also the meal was fantastic.
The talks were a good length and very interesting.
I appreciate the rich diversities of the content of the talks, ranging from neuroscience, clinical psychiatry, scenarios and above all – I absolutely loved the talk by Professor David Owens. The sharing of the experience is invaluable.
The varied programme.
Speed dating.
The diverse range of specialties and speakers.
Excellent scope of topics, insightful talks from inspiring speakers. Very well organised.
The laid-back atmosphere of the programme and organisers/speakers.
The talks that covered very new topics eg neuroeconomics. Professor Owens’ talk.
I’ve enjoyed all of it!
Variety of lectures.
Everything was great but particularly enjoyed the opportunity to speak to people in the various areas at speed dating.
Enthusiasm of presenters.
Really enjoyed the speed dating event – good opportunity to meet lots of interesting people in an informal setting. All the talks were really interesting and there was a good amount of variety. The free meal was also excellent!
Speed dating was a very good idea, perhaps too short! It was frustrating having to move on so quickly but I understand the time constraints. I thoroughly enjoyed the lectures, particularly neuroeconomics and surgical approach to psychiatry.
Neuroeconomics, free meal! Speed dating. Good variety.
ECT therapy; LD research; neuroeconomics; managing psychiatric emergencies.
Speed dating – was very interesting.
All the presentations were very interesting and informative. Ability to discuss with professionals in the fields as well as with students with similar interests.
The enthusiasm of the lecturers. Fantastic lectures, especially Professors Hall and Owens and Dr Currie. Speed dating was an excellent idea, great to quiz consultants/doctors from all areas. Demonstrated the huge breadth within psychiatry.
Q5. How could the event have been improved?
Maybe break into small discussion groups for heated debates.
More speed dating-style events to talk to psychiatrists (I’m a bit shy to approach).
Neuroeconomics lecture not that much said about mental health (although it was interesting). More psychiatrists coming to dinner to speak to. Maybe don’t call it a summer school as I know some people assumed it was a week or more and so couldn’t go.
A bit more time for speed dating. We all ran out of time. Also would it be possible to get a copy of some of the speakers’ emails, in case any other questions come to our minds later?
There should have been more about the application process and ‘the career ladder’. There is a lot of confusion amongst medical students as to how this works.
More small group discussion?
Potentially stretch it over a longer period? If possible, that would be my only suggestion – overall it’s been great!
Speed dating was fun but could have benefitted from bit more structure and quiet. The small groups worked better than one-to-one.
Well done.
More advertising. Maybe start later on Friday/run Saturday and Sunday. It was difficult to get here on time coming from the hospital.
Better publicised (x3).
More advertising would have drawn a bigger crowd, I think many of my peers would have enjoyed this but were not aware of it.
The dinner was a great idea but it would have been better if there was some kind of system to promote interaction with the specialists that also attended the meal.
More time for question and discussion.
A talk on how to go about finding suitable SSC/elective/summer projects. A list of contacts of projects/supervisors that may be available.
Greater emphasis on international perspective.
I would have liked to have heard more of some of the lecturers.
Speed dating extended slightly.
Perhaps more group discussion type activities (like the speed dating) to be interspersed between the talks.
Speed dating longer - only just had time to get chatting. “Myths” talks superfluous – we are already interested in psychiatry and so understand these ideas are not true.
Marketed better to all students. This is because some of my friends heard about the summer school through their GP/workplace/if they were doing their psychiatric block. A little bit more about what is psychiatry for the benefit of those who’ve yet to have any psychiatry teaching.
What is the psychiatry situation in third world countries?
Include presentations from some more of the subspecialties eg child and adolescent, psychotherapy etc. More time for the speed dating. Include a presentation on what to do while a student to get more exposure to psychiatry.
The speed dating session could have been slightly longer and in a bigger room as sometimes it was difficult to hear. It would also have been useful to have a short chance to mingle afterwards so that we could go back and chat to areas we were most interested in. I would have liked a presentation on psychiatry abroad, especially developing world. Including elective ideas in psychiatry. While the funded wine and food were greatly appreciated and a great idea for discussing psychiatry/meeting others interested, some of the funding could have been directed elsewhere and a slightly cheaper meal. For example, prizes for student presentation, or funding towards getting an international speaker or author to attend.
Q6. Please rate your overall experience of the following:
Poor / Satisfactory / Good / Excellent / N/AApplication Process / 0 / 0 / 13 / 19 / 0
Venue / 0 / 1 / 14 / 17 / 0
Presentations / 0 / 0 / 4 / 28 / 0
Networking Opportunities / 0 / 4 / 9 / 18 / 1
Organisation of the event / 0 / 0 / 8 / 24 / 0
Q7. Are you actively considering a career in Psychiatry?
Yes30
No 1
D/K 1
My ambition is to be an orthopaedic surgeon. But surely all areas of medicine and surgery are ‘careers in psychiatry’. While light-hearted, I did not appreciate recurrent ‘bad mouthing’ of surgeons. Psychiatry is trying to get rid of a stigma and it doesn’t help anyone to reinforce a negative stigma in another specialty.
Q8. Any other comments?
None. The weekend was most interesting and helpful. Thank you!
Thank you for organising- it has been really interesting and informative.
Thank you very much for sponsoring the evening meal at Bia Bistrot. Thank you for inviting so many different speakers to give very interesting and useful talks to us.
Very welcome for students to ask questions etc. Not huge amount of mixing between unis. Meal was really nice touch.
The students felt really welcome and it was a very friendly atmosphere. The dinner was a very good idea to break the ice and I’m sure that people would be willing to pay more than nothing.
This was a highly enjoyable event. Length was really good – other Summer Schools run mid-week or over several days, which would be harder to take time out of classes for. Thank you to those that organised the event – it really was great!
Better advertising of event – I found it by chance.
Dinner was a nice idea but it would be nice if there could be a professional assigned to each table to allow a time for further informal conversation.
It was a very enjoyable and affordable conference and it’s always fantastic to meet people who are enthusiastic about their career.
Many thanks.
Thank you!
Thank you for organising this event. It was very helpful and educational.
Prof Owens was excellent – I would watch lectures of his (online maybe?) to cheer me up. Such a good speaker!
Thanks for the opportunity!
Maybe provide delegates with evidence of their attendance so they can demonstrate how active their psychiatry interest has been when applying for a job?
Really enjoyed it! Dinner, lunch and tea breaks gave great opportunity to socialise with other students and talk to specialists freely!
If possible, could email addresses of the speakers be provided on the biography sheet perhaps? So they can be contacted for further info.
Highly enjoyable two days. Great value! A little difficult to get to at 4 pm on a Friday from Glasgow when on placement but don’t know how this would be solved without making it run very late.
Thank you for the chance!
Networking opportunities – they were there but approaching doctors in coffee breaks etc can be a bit intimidating.
Better advertising of the event – EEMeC etc. I understand the timing of the event is extremely difficult but at the moment Years 1, 2 and 3 in Edinburgh are currently on holiday meaning they are more likely to be unable to attend. Often at other specialties conferences there is a free lanyard. Both useful and excellent advertising for the specialty as most of us use a lanyard every day for ID cards. It would be good to have a poster prize entry as part of the conference. This would encourage student research in psychiatry and offer an opportunity to practice presenting. Thank you.
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