Old age higher training

Old age psychiatry training builds on the skills learnt in core training to focus on the assessment and treatment of mental health problems in the elderly population.

Trainees are offered a three-year programme with clinical posts in a variety of settings. During this time, a trainee will develop specialised skills in old age psychiatry as well as transferable skills such as advanced leadership, emergency psychiatry and complex decision making. They will also have time dedicated to pursuing special interests and research.
 

Training in Wales

The training scheme is split across north and south Wales and each area takes advantage of the broad range of experiences on offer. Training takes place across a range of sites from academic centres to community hospitals in urban and rural settings. As the patient population is varied with different issues and a wide range of complexities, it gives a good opportunity to experience training in different places around the country. The size of Wales is one of our assets, allowing trainees the opportunity to be involved in projects and policy, which may have impact on a national level.

To ensure a breadth of experience in different teams and working patterns there is inevitably some moving around, however, we are also mindful that trainees have other responsibilities, and we try and make things as simple as possible. We have a strong reputation in Wales for encouraging flexible training. We pride ourselves on work life balance.

It is a relatively small scheme with a close network of trainers, many of whom have trained together, encouraging increased support for trainees. The training scheme also has close links to the universities in Wales offering opportunities for teaching and research.