Are uk higher psychiatry trainees using special interest sessions to develop their career pathways as intended? what might help achieve this goal?

Introduction

UK Psychiatry Trainees are allocated one day per week in their final three years of training to use for “a clinical or clinically related area of service which cannot be provided within the training post but which is of direct relevance to the prospective career pathway of the trainee”. It is unclear how trainees in the East of England are using this time and what could help them optimise use of this time. We completed a survey to evaluate these areas.

Objectives

To determine details of how Special interest sessions (SIS) are spent by trainees: How much support/ planning for SIS is available and if this is adequate. Whether trainees feel they are able to use their SIS for its intended purpose of providing “a clinical or clinically related area of service which cannot be provided within the training post but which is of direct relevance to the prospective career pathway of the trainee” Exploration of barriers/tensions to maximizing use of SIS. SIS Record keeping What advice would trainees give re: special interest sessions to a new SPR? What lessons can be drawn to assist trainees from other countries/ training programmes to maximise their own development.

Methods

Survey sent to all Higher trainees in the East of England via Regional Training Programme.

Results

Awaited. Survey sent 29/09/2020

Conclusions

Results pending. We will feedback in detail on outcomes from the survey and subsequent discussion with Regional training programme members.

Effectiveness of Workplace Interventions in Return-to-Work for Musculoskeletal, Pain-Related and Mental Health Conditions: An Update of the Evidence and Messages for Practitioners

Purpose The objective of this systematic review was to synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of workplace-based return-to-work (RTW) interventions and work disability management (DM) interventions that assist workers with musculoskeletal (MSK) and pain-related conditions and mental health (MH) conditions with RTW. Methods We followed a systematic review process developed by the Institute for Work & Health and an adapted best evidence synthesis that ranked evidence as strong, moderate, limited, or insufficient. Results Seven electronic databases were searched from January 1990 until April 2015, yielding 8898 non-duplicate references. Evidence from 36 medium and high quality studies were synthesized on 12 different intervention categories across three broad domains: health-focused, service coordination, and work modification interventions. There was strong evidence that duration away from work from both MSK or pain-related conditions and MH conditions were significantly reduced by multi-domain interventions encompassing at least two of the three domains. There was moderate evidence that these multi-domain interventions had a positive impact on cost outcomes. There was strong evidence that cognitive behavioural therapy interventions that do not also include workplace modifications or service coordination components are not effective in helping workers with MH conditions in RTW. Evidence for the effectiveness of other single-domain interventions was mixed, with some studies reporting positive effects and others reporting no effects on lost time and work functioning. Conclusions While there is substantial research literature focused on RTW, there are only a small number of quality workplace-based RTW intervention studies that involve workers with MSK or pain-related conditions and MH conditions. We recommend implementing multi-domain interventions (i.e. with healthcare provision, service coordination, and work accommodation components) to help reduce lost time for MSK or pain-related conditions and MH conditions. Practitioners should also consider implementing these programs to help improve work functioning and reduce costs associated with work disability.