Flexible training in psychiatry

Abstract

EDITORIALSThe Royal College of Psychiatrists and the speciality of psychiatry has a long history of support for part-time or flexible training. The motivating factors for this support were a recogni tion of the demand for flexible training among the trainees themselves, a large proportion of whom were women, and an acknowledgement that psychiatry was a shortage speciality and needed to recruit and retain the best possible doctors. The College, working together with the Department of Health, was enabled to set relatively high quotas for part-time trainees and thus psychiatry be came known as a speciality in which young doctors could, if they so wished, train on a parttime basis. Those hospital specialities which have encouraged flexible training have a higher propor tion of women doctors than those which do not. In a survey in 1994 of career destinations of doctors who graduated in 1983 (Lambert et al 1996), the most common career destinations for women were general practice, followed by psychiatry. In both general practice and psychiatry the percentage of women training in these specialities exceeds that of men. Doctors who anticipated that they might wish at some stage to work on a flexible basis have known that this is a strong possibility in psychiatry, provided that they meet the required standards.

Female psychiatrists' career development after flexible training

“…Flexibly trained psychiatrists have been found to outperform their full-time colleagues in terms of how quickly they gain College membership (assessed by number of examination attempts), and also gain experience in other specialties prior to psychiatry (Herzberg & Goldberg, 1999). This, coupled with a reported increase of 30% in demand for flexible training posts across specialties (Goldberg, 1997), shows that this is a crucial group for policy-makers to recognise and encourage.…”

“…Except for some posts in Oxford, the scheme was not greatly used until 1979, when there was a focusing on senior registrar training, with a second boost in 1991 with the introduction of a new scheme for career registrars. Demand for flexible training posts is growing, with a reported increase of 30% across grades and specialties (Goldberg, 1997). It has been suggested that, nationally, 14% of psychiatrists train flexibly, although the uptake varies regionally between 3.5% and 26% (NHS Management Executive, 1993).…”

Part-time working in psychiatry in Northern Ireland

“…An increasing demand for flexible training posts is reported nationally, with a 30% increase throughout all specialties (Goldberg, 1997). In Northern Ireland there is a waiting list for flexible training posts for specialist registrars across all specialties funded by the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA).…”

Part-time training and working for male and female psychiatrists

“…Goldberg (1997) reported an over 30% increase across all grades and specialities in the previous 2 years. NHS Executive figures for July 1996 showed 8% of doctors across all specialities training flexibly, with 14% training flexibly in psychiatry (of those, 45% were in the psychotherapy subspeciality and 13% in adult mental illness).…”

“…Nationally, there is wide variation in the uptake of flexible training in psychiatry, ranging from 3.5 to 26% of doctors training flexibly. Goldberg (1997) and Clay (1998) suggest several reasons for this, including the availability of funding to support part-time training, reluctance of local trusts to fund the additional duty hours, degree of commitment of key people at local and regional level and demand from the trainees themselves.…”