FAQ

Psych Interview is a compilation of skills and techniques developed by a Consultant Psychiatrist with several years of teaching and clinical practice. Having worked closely with examiners, examinees, and trainees, each scenario has been carefully crafted to provide you with focused techniques to bring the best out of you, whether you are doing your exam or wanting to improve your clinical practice. It is an online toolset that offers the opportunity to observe, model and rehearse a range of clinical scenarios and to improve your interview skills through practice in a flexible manner. The scenarios contain a clear diagnostic interview and the videos are supplemented with buzz words to provide clear guidance. There are,in addition, 45 downloadable PDF lecture notes. Ultimately, it will help you pass the psychiatry exams easily and excel in your clinical practice.

Yes, Psych Interview has been designed to help you pass your exam. Psych Interview is developed by a psychiatrist with the both the MRCPsych and RANZCP qualifications. The Psych Interview scenarios have been developed from previous exam scenarios. Psych Interview is designed to reflect the exam situation, and it combines several tasks in one. After all, the exam scenarios are a 'slice of your clinical practice'. Once you master the skills in all the videos, you can modify the necessary for your exam task. If you are attending a RANZCP OSCE course or mock exam, then use Psych Interview thoroughly before the course to rehearse and practice your skills. Take the course as a practice exam and continue revision with Psych Interview after the course. This approach will bring you excellent results.

Yes, Psych Interview has been designed to help you pass your exam. Psych Interview is developed by a psychiatrist with the both the MRCPsych and RANZCP qualifications. The Psych Interview concept is especially designed for all OSCE based exams such as the MRCPsych CASC examination, RANZCP OSCE and the RSPSC OSCE examination. In fact, all Psych Interview scenarios have been developed from previous exam stations. The only difference in these exams is the time to complete a task. The techniques and skills required remain the same. Psych Interview is designed to reflect the exam situation, and it combines several tasks in one. After all, the exam scenarios are a 'slice of your clinical practice'. Scenarios are created to impart the maximum amount of information to you as the viewer. Once you master the skills in all the videos, you can modify the necessary for your exam task. If you are attending a CASC or OSCE course or mock exam, then use Psych Interview thoroughly before the course to rehearse and practice your skills. Take the course as a practice exam and continue revision with Psych Interview after the course. This approach will bring you excellent results.

Approximately 40-50% of clients at a GP’s practice have mental illnesses, making psychiatry an indispensible part of general practice. Psych Interview offers General Practitioners the opportunity to enhance their mental health interview skills and thereby excel in their clinical practice. The GP package contains the most relevant scenarios for enhancing primary care skills in psychiatry and therefore, gives you the confidence to diagnose and manage mental health conditions effectively.

Yes, your clinical practice will transform for the better. Since the Psych Interview videos are slices of real clinical life, you will learn real world skills that you can apply in your daily life. These skills are not available in the textbooks and are developed through years of clinical practice. Psych Interview offers you the opportunity to learn and practice these valuable skills in your time. By developing a structured approach to clinical tasks, you become a better clinician and stand out from the others.

The RANZCP OCA exam consists of 5 important domains. Data gathering, Data content, Mental state examination , Formulation and Management plan. The first three components of data gathering , data content and mental state examination are often the commonest reasons for candidates achieveing poor marks. The consequence of this is that one is unable to develop a theoretical formulation or a coherent management plan. Thus the 5 components are intricately linked. One cannot pass the Formulation and Management section if the first three components have not been addressed. Psych Interview prepares you for the first three components enabling you to go on to develop a relevant formulation and management plan.

The best way to use Psych Interview is by viewing the videos, learning the checklist and then practicing the videos, one by one. You can do this in your own time and convenience and then apply the techniques to your clinical practice. View the videos again and note down the points you may have missed, whilst practicing again. Once you do this two or three times, the interview questions and checklists will become second nature. You can then start modifying the concept by adding your own flavour and personality to it. Start early for maximum benefit.

Absolutely. If you are looking to enhance your diagnostic interviewing skills and gain an understanding of evidence based practice in a bio-psycho-social model then Psych Interview is for you. These skills are developed through years of clinical practice and as such are not found in textbooks. Modelling is the only way to learn these skills. Psych Interview offers you the entire breadth of clinical mental health skills in one package and teaches you how to diagnose and manage mental health disorders using evidence based guidelines. With enhanced knowledge, you are able to improve the quality of team meetings, increase important interaction with patients, and be closely involved in medical decision making – all of which will ultimately improve patient care. Sound knowledge of psychiatry is not just the forte of psychiatrists or GPs but everyone involved with mental health patients. By developing your knowledge and skills in psychiatry, you can help improve the quality of service by ensuring accountability to your clients.

The lecture notes are PowerPoint slide shows, varying in length. They contain notes for focused learning. Each slideshow consists of a checklist which is a list of relevant and important points pertaining to the scenario and evidence based guidelines for management. The material is sourced from peer reviewed journals e.g (APT, BJPsych, etc.) and guidelines ( RANZCP, NICE, APA etc.).

The demo videos run on the same software as the subscription videos. If you are able to view the demos smoothly you should not have any problems viewing the rest of the videos on the same PC / laptop using the same internet connection. To make sure your system meets the compatibility requirements, please view the appropriate section of Terms of Use.

We recommend a minimum connection speed of 1.5Mbps. This is usually available on most home and hospital computers. In the rare event that your computer does not show the video within a few seconds, it is advisable to wait for the video to upload. You may also press the pause button and wait for the complete video to upload. Each video also has a flash version available which works at slower internet connections.

Yes, Psych Interview has been developed as iPhone and iPad compatible. The smoothness of viewing depends on the speed and signal strength of your wireless mobile connection.

No, you can view the Psych Interview videos only through this website and will need an internet connection. The Psych Interview videos are not downloadable due to copyright protection reasons.

Yes, if you choose the 3 or 6 month subscription pack you will receive a reminder to upgrade to further months before your subscription runs out.

Yes, Psych Interview videos have been developed for training purposes and include buzzwords and lecture notes for easy, focused learning.

The videos vary in length. They range from short (5-8 minute videos) as in the CASC and RANZCP OSCE exam to longer videos (15-20 minutes) which are a combined theme.

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