Psychiatry

The goal of this course is to present basic concepts and problems of

modern psychiatry, introducing principles of epidemiology, etiology,

manifestation, course, prognosis and treatment of major groups of

psychiatric disorders and thus to prepare the students to recognize and

differentiate main psychiatric conditions. Emphasis will be placed on

clinical approach and practical skills, like when to suspect various

conditions, how to ask for specific symptoms in order to facilitate

diagnosis and differentiate various conditions, how to maintain good

rapport with patients, thus supporting psychiatric treatment as members

of mental health team.

The course will introduce the students into international systems of

classification of psychiatric disorders and the evolution of main concepts

in psychiatry. Major groups of psychiatric disorders, namely anxiety

disorders, affective disorders, eating disorders, sleep disorders, sexual

disorders, schizophrenia and related psychoses, disorders due to

substance misuse, personality disorders, impulse-control disorders will be

discussed in terms of epidemiology, etiological theories and hypotheses,

clinical manifestations and categories, differential diagnosis including

symptom overlapping, differentiation with somatic conditions, course,

prognosis and management, specific features in different age groups

(children and adolescents, elderly patients).

In each class students will become familiar with most important

issues concerning a specific topic, a discussion on given clinical examples

will help them incorporate obtained knowledge into understanding of the

nature of patients’ problems and become more confident in psychiatric

evaluation and decision-making (developing treatment plans, referring

patients to specialist care, etc.).

A lecture at the end of the course will be dedicated to additional

topics (like transcultural psychiatry, evolutionary perspective in

psychiatry, methods of treatment, etc), to an in-depth approach to

previously discussed problems or to a trial test – depending on the

students’ choice.

Students will be asked to prepare for each class by reading

specified chapters from the literature (assigned from class to class) and

their active participation (questions, doubts) in discussion is encouraged.

Three times during the course they will be asked to prepare a written

case study.

Reading:

1/ David Semple, Roger Smyth, Oxford Handbook of Psychiatry, Third

Edition, Oxford University Press, 2013

2/ Robert Hales, Stuart Yudofsky, Laura Roberts, The American

Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychiatry, Sixth Edition (or previous

editions, with Glen O. Gabbard as third editor)

3/ ICD-10: The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural

Disorders: Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines, World Health

Organization

4/ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR,

Fourth Edition (Text Revision), American Psychiatric Association

5/ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition,

American Psychiatric Association

By the end of the course students should:

- demonstrate working knowledge of the major concepts and

problems of psychiatric conditions

- be able to critically evaluate clinical data in terms of possible

diagnosis and to develop treatment plans including the role of

psychological methods of assessment and treatment

- be able to recognize specific risk factors and specificity of contact

with various groups of patients and of different clinical settings

- develop critical thinking about the burden and scope of mental

problems in the modern society

 Written case studies (30% - 3 x 10% )

Three times during the course the students will be asked to prepare a

written case study based upon a presented material selected from a

number of possible ones.

 Active participation in class discussion - 20%

Students will be asked to prepare for each class by reading specified

chapters from the literature (assigned from class to class) and their

active participation (raising questions, doubts, points of interest) in

discussion is encouraged

 Final test - 15 multiple choice questions, 12 open questions (50%)

Attendance rules

Two absences are allowed without any consequences, for each absence

above the limit (maximum amount is four) the student will be asked to

complete a written assignment