Postgraduate Teaching
Programme: Masters in Medicine (Psychiatry)
Module: Psychiatry Part 1 (PSYT9A1)
The module is mainly based on self-directed learning. Service-learning prepares students for professional practice as a specialist by exposing them to typical and atypical clinical problems, while registrar presentations motivates them to do self-study to explore the scientific foundations of their practice, find the most recent evidence on which to base their practice and identify re-searchable problems. Journal clubs are sued to expose students to the critical reading of scientific literature, while research meetings expose them to critical engagement with the research process. Staff meetings allow for the discussion of service-related problems, allowing students to participate in service planning and development. Seminar meetings expose students to experts in the field in order to learn from their input. The Masters in Medicine (Psychiatry) is aimed at providing graduates with the specialized knowledge and competence in the science and practice of psychiatry to enable registration with the Colleges of Medicine as a specialist in the field, and to provide improved health service to the population. It aims to provide graduates with the foundations for specialist professional practice, engagement with the research process and continued professional and scientific growth.
Content Topics Covered:
- An introduction to Clinical Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine
- Clinical Interviewing Skills
- Problem Solving & Crisis Intervention
- Suicide Risk Assessment
- Fundamental Theories of Development
- Infancy & Childhood, Adolescence, Adulthood, Old Age
- Learning: A Basis to Human Development
- Cognitive Processes: Perception and the Processes of Attending
- Cognitive Processes: Thinking and Memory
- Social Issues Related to Mental Health: Social roles, social deviance, social class and stigma, diversity, the nature and effect of life-changing events
- Social Issues Related to Mental Health: Social correlates of mental illness, including effects of migration, uprooting, acculturation, urbanization, industrialization, poverty and social drift
- Culture and Mental Health: Family and kinship systems in various ethnic groups
- Culture and Mental Health: Concepts of mental health and illness in distinctive ethnic groups in Southern Africa; Culture-bound syndrome
- Culture and Mental Health: Healing practices in distinctive ethnic groups including role of indigenous healers, diviners, etc.
- Psychosocial Rehabilitation
- Maternal Mental Health
- Forensic Mental Health
- An Introduction to Research Methodology
- An Introduction to Qualitative Research
- Introduction to Adult & Child Assessment
- Ethics of Psychotherapy
- Intellectual Assessment
- Cognitive Behavior Therapy
- Family Therapy – Theory & Psycho-therapeutic Method
- Basic Principles of Psychotherapy/Micro Techniques of Psychotherapy
- Indications and Contra-indications for Psychotherapy; Resistance, Transference & Counter-Transference; Planning & Monitoring Psychotherapy According to Patient Dynamics
- Psychoanalytic & Psycho-dynamic Theory (including Short term) & Approaches to Psychotherapy I
- Behavioral Conceptions of Personality
- Personality Assessment
- Basic Principles of Psychotherapy/Micro Techniques of Psychotherapy
- Group Therapy – Theory and Psycho-therapeutic Approach
- Neo Freudian Approach – Jung’s Theory of Personality & Approach to Psychotherapy
- Adult & Child Neuropsychological Assessment
- Humanistic & Existential conceptions of Personality & Psycho therapeutic applications
Programme: Master of Philosophy
Module: Group Trauma Intervention
This module is an integrated, multidisciplinary module, the purpose of which is to provide students with basic knowledge and skills required for being an adult learner in an institute of higher education. It focuses on the holistic development of the student and aims to develop their biological, social, spiritual and mental abilities in order to attain a level of maturity required for survival at university. In addition, it provides the student with the core foundational knowledge and integrates the principles of community, family, public and environmental health. The module demonstrates the relevance of these disciplines to the planning and delivery of appropriate, relevant and cost-effective healthcare in South Africa. Furthermore, it provides the basic and foundation knowledge related to the understanding of the theories of human development and behavior, in the context of communication, professionalism, ethics and lifestyles and equips the student with the appropriate skills and attitudes essential for the practice of medicine.
Content Topics Covered:
- Introduction: Identifying characteristic features of traumatic stress, acute trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder across the developmental lifespan
- Trauma impact from a cognitive, neurobiology/physiological, and behavioral perspective
- Trauma and co-morbid Disorders
- Identifying and working with bio-psycho-sociology-cultural, and religious and spiritual factors that impact trauma work
- The Cost of Trauma: trauma and its impact on the South African society, as well as the impact of trauma in an international context
- Theoretical frameworks informing evidence-based practices in trauma group work across the lifespan
- Basic Applied Trauma Group Work Strategies for Treating Trauma Victims – Children
- Basic Applied Trauma Group Work Strategies for Treating Trauma Victims – Adolescents
- Basic Applied Trauma Group Work Strategies for Treating Trauma Victims – Adults
- Basic Applied Trauma Group Work Strategies for Treating Trauma Victims – Senior Citizens
- Self-Management for Professional Trauma Workers
- Ethics in Group Trauma Work