Psychiatry careers - Canberra Health Services

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) Fellowship Training

Would you like to do your RANZCP Fellowship Training in a vibrant, multicultural capital city with a contemporary mental health system?

Canberra Health Services is the place for you. Mental Health, Justice Health and Alcohol & Drug Services (MHJHADS) Division of Canberra Health Services (CHS) offers exciting opportunities for psychiatry registrars and support them to attain Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP).

As a psychiatry registrar working with CHS, you will be able to practice in a health care environment where professional development and education is seen as an absolute priority.

Education support

The RANZCP ACT Psychiatry Program and the ACT Psychiatry Formal Education Course are accredited by the RANZCP for Fellowship Training.

We are proud of the quality of training our junior doctors receive towards obtaining their Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP).

Canberra is home to three main universities (Australian National University, University of Canberra, and Australian Catholic University) and Canberra Health Services also offers numerous opportunities to participate in teaching and research.

Psychiatry training program

Our psychiatry training program offers a range of clinical placements and ongoing academic and exam support for psychiatry registrars.

We are a medium sized training program, so trainees will be in a smaller cohort of registrars and won’t be lost in the crowd. We do not have training placements that will require trainees in the ACT to relocate from their main place of residence, and all placements are within a relatively short commute time.

All psychiatry trainees in the ACT will be enrolled in our free, accredited psychiatry formal education course and will have protected time to access formal education.

In the first year of psychiatry training, all trainees will be working in an adult psychiatry post.

In the second and third year, trainees will experience subspecialty training in Child and Adolescent and Consultation Liaison psychiatry rotations, as well as elective rotations. Additionally, they will be allocated to a psychotherapy supervision group to start their Psychotherapy Written Case.

Please refer to the RANZCP website for more information on RANZCP Fellowship training.

Advanced certificate training

In your fourth and fifth year, psychiatry trainees may choose to pursue a subspecialty certificate, subject to eligibility, availability of positions and selection.

There will be several elective terms available for trainees in their third and fourth years of training.

Advanced Certificate training is offered in following areas:

Child and Adolescent psychiatry
Psychiatry of Old Age
Psychotherapy
Adult Psychiatry
Addictions Psychiatry
Consultation & Liaison Psychiatry
Forensic Psychiatry

Academic and exam support

All trainees attend a Formal Education Program, and Case Conference and Journal Club. There are separate Stage 1 (first year), Stage 2 (second and third year), and Stage 3 (fourth and fifth year) Formal Education Programs. Formal Education is offered in person.

Trainees have protected time to attend the Formal Education Program, Case Conference and Journal Club.

Psychotherapy training

All trainees are enrolled in a small psychotherapy supervision group in their second year. The groups are facilitated by specialist psychiatrist psychotherapists, who will help you to complete your mandatory 40-session psychotherapy case.

Eligibility

Applicants must have registration with AHPRA to apply for psychiatry training in the ACT.

If you are already a RANZCP trainee in another part of Australia or New Zealand and wish to transfer to ACT, please email CHS.PsychRegTraining@act.gov.au.

You can read more about selection of trainees on the RANZCP website.

To apply, you will need to:

apply and secure a job with Canberra Health Services
be accepted into the training program by the ACT RANZCP Branch Training Committee.

You will be interviewed for both your job and the training position simultaneously.

First year psychiatry registrars begin their training in February. These positions are usually advertised in June to July by the Canberra Health Services.

There may be further rounds of recruitment throughout the year that you might like to consider applying for if you are looking for an unaccredited position or, are already a trainee elsewhere and are looking to transfer to the Canberra training program.

You will find the relevant information on how to apply in the job advertisement.

RANZCP referee report forms can be provided on request, for referees to complete and send directly to CHS.PsychRegTraining@act.gov.au