Developmental Psychiatry Course (DPC)
The Developmental Psychiatry Course is a one year part-time course accepted as the benchmark for vocational training in fundamental skills for the child, adolescent and youth mental health workforce.
The DPC is suitable for professoinals working with children and adolescents with mental health difficulties, including social workers, occupational therapists, psychiatric nurses, speech pathologies and psychologists, as well as those working in education, child and family service and general medicine or equivalent.
The DPC provides professionals with foundational knowledge in normal and abnormal development across childhood, adolescence and youth. This knowledge, together with clinical experience in CAMHS/CYMHS offered in the DPC Theory + Skills, builds skills and knowledge in working with children, adolescents and youth with mental health difficulties, including assessment, diagnosis, formulation and treatment planning.
There are two components of the DPC. Participants who currenlty work in CAMHS/CYMHS/youth services or Take Two must complete DPC Theory + Skills (i.e. both the theory and skills components of the course). Other participants may elect to complete DPC Theory + Skills if space permits, or DPC Theory Only as a standalone.
Theory Component:
Four terms of serminars, covering infants, parenting, toddlers, preschoolers, school-aged children and adolescents and emerging adults and the contextual factors that influence their development. A draft 2022 timetable is available here.
Seminars are held between 1:30pm and 3:30pm Wednesdays during the Victorian school terms, commencing on 2 February 2022. At this stage metropolitan Melbourne participants will be expected to attend on-site at Mindful (Travancore) on the first and last days of each term (a total of 8 days/year). Covid-19 restrictions allowing. Regional particpants are also welcome to attend on those dates (particularly the first and last dates of the year) but this is not required. Other seminars will be conducted via videoconference.
Successful completion of DPC Theory requires attendance at 80% of seminars and completion of six observation reports of typically developing children/young people.
Skills Component:
Supervised and supported experience observing and conducting assessments at a Victorian CAMHS/CYMHS. This component takes place between 9:00am and midday on Wednesdays. There will be two intakes - one from 9 February to 22 June; the second from 27 July to 7 December. Successful applicants for a DPC Theory + Skills place will be assigned toa Victorian CAMHS/CYMHS site based on their location and intake preferences.
Places in the Skills componentt are limited and will be dependent on availability. Applicants for DPC Theory + Skills who are unable to secure a place in the Skills component will be offered a place in the Theory-only option.
Successful completion of DPC Theory + Skills involves meeting the requirements of DPC Theory only (attendance at 80% of seminars and completion of 6 observation reports) PLUS conducting and writing up of one full assessment of a child/young person and their famliy and writing up of 4 additional brief formulations related to assessments of children/young people and families who have been observed during the clinical placement.
Prerequisites
Satisfactory completion of the Mindful Introductory Course (MIC). For details click here.
OR
Prior satisfactory completion of the Introduction to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Assessment (ICAMHA) online course or its predecessor, the Child & Youth Mental Health (CYMH): Introduction to Assessment short course.
Selection Criteria
A relevant undergraduate qualification and employment within a service that provides the applicant with access to infants and/or children and/or adolescents and/or families. Consideration will be given to applicants who do not meet these criteria.
Skills Component
- Undertake a Case Assessment and complete a Case Report
- Complete formulations of all assessments viewed
- Attend at least 80% of sessions
Seminar Component
- Complete six Developmental Observation Reports
- Attend at least 80% of sessions
A certificate of successful completion is awarded to participants who have completed all of the above.
The DPC is a pre-requisite for further students in the Developmental Psychiatry Course (Advanced), also offered at Mindful.
The clinical component of the course is run by experienced clinical consultants.
The seminar component comprises 39 topics delivered by experts in their respective fields. Refer to the draft seminar program to see the range of expert presenters.
Cost for 2022:
Full course: $1,925 GST-free
Theory component only: $1,400 + GST
In addition, applicants need to complete the fully online prerequisite Mindful Introductory Course (MIC) introduction to assessment in child, adolescent and youth mental health. The cost of the MIC course is between $350-$500 plus GST for Australian applicants. Click here for further information.
Previous completion of equivalent courses (CYMH Introduction to Assessment or the ICAMHA may be accepted).
Application Form:
Click here to access the online application form for 2022.
Forms should be submitted via email to [email protected]
Closing Date:
Applications close Friday 3 December 2021.
PRIVACY COLLECTION NOTICE
The information you is used for administration of your enrolment. We also retain basic contact information (name and email address) in order to manage and maintain Mindful’s alumni networks, and to inform members of our industry of future training opportunities which may be of interest. If you do not wish your details to be used for this purpose on completion of your course please contact the Course Administrator. The information you have provided will be used by authorised staff only for the purpose for which it was collected, and will be protected against unauthorised access and use. You may access any personal information you have provided to the University, through Mindful, by contacting us at the email address or telephone number provided above. The University of Melbourne is committed to protecting personal information provided by you in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic). All information collected by the University is governed by the University’s Privacy Policy. For further information about how the University deals with personal information, please refer to the University’s Privacy Policy or contact the University’s Privacy Officer at [email protected]