Psychological Medicine and Psychiatry

Psychological Medicine and Psychiatry is the largest group of researchers and teachers at the IoP. Many of the Division’s 360 staff also work as psychiatrists or psychologists within South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, providing clinical services in their field of expertise. The Master of Psychological Medicine is a 3-year part time course that is jointly run by the Department of Psychological Medicine, Monash University and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne. The course is open to medical practitoners with an identified interest in working with patients with mental illness.

The course aims to develop the knowledge and skills of medical practitioners working with patients with mental illness. The course fosters attitudes of tolerence to the diversity within our community and our geographical region, equity to appropriate treatment for all individuals and encourage the practitioner to consider the sociocultural factors in their interactions with patients and their broader community. The course is designed to encourage the student to explore the theoretical concepts in psychiatry and their relationship to clinical practice. The seminar format of the course, led by a facilitator/lecturer, encourages student participation, self-directed learning, problem solving and the integration of theory with clinical practice. This will hopefully lead to a culture of lifelong learning that will be maintained throughout their professional career. Students will complete a number of core subjects as well as be offered selective subjects in the second and third years in order to reflect the ever-increasing current state of knowledge in psychiatry.

The Department of Psychological Medicine focuses on common mental disorders: general hospital psychiatry; family therapy; primary care psychiatry; eating disorders; social psychiatry and psychiatry in the military, for example. The research of the Department of Psychiatry is about more severe disorders: schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia; and addictions, for example. The two departments also differ in their research methodologies. Psychological Medicine carries out epidemiological, clinical and psychological research, including cross sectional studies, cohorts and randomised controlled trials. Psychiatry concentrates on biological research, including genetics and neuroimaging.

The Division is responsible for teaching psychiatry and psychology to medical students at King’s College London School of Medicine, one of the largest schools of medicine in the UK. The Division also runs nine postgraduate taught programmes: visit the Courses and teaching page for details of the Mental Health Studies (Learning Disabilities) Programme; the MSc in Mental Health Studies (Organisational Psychiatry and Psychology); the MSc in Mental Health Studies; the MSc in War and Psychiatry; the MSc in Clinical and Public Health Aspects of Addiction; the MSc in Psychiatric Research; the MSc in Family Therapy; the MSc in Mental Health in Learning Disabilities; and the Graduate Certificate in Family Therapy. More than 200 students are registered on these taught programmes.