The NUIGalway Deanery encompasses geographically the western counties of Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. Inpatient units for acute care are located in Galway University Hospital, Mayo University Hospital, Roscommon University Hospital and Merlin Park University Hospital, Galway (Child and Adolescent Mental Health In-patient Unit). Community based services are provided through a network of multidisciplinary adult community mental health teams and specialist services with a full range of community based outpatient, day hospital, day centre, outreach, home based and community residential services. General Adult Psychiatry training covers the full range of settings incorporating urban, rural, areas of deprivation and areas with high rates of ethnic minorities and homelessness. Specialist training placements at multiple points throughout the region are available in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Later Life Psychiatry, Intellectual Disability, Social and Rehabilitation Psychiatry and Liaison Psychiatry. Additional training by specialist tutors in academic psychiatry, forensic psychiatry and medical psychotherapy is also available for trainees. Additionally posts in general adult psychiatry in regional centres (Mayo, Roscommon/Ballinasloe) also provide exposure to specialty service provision in rehabilitation and recovery, liaison psychiatry, perinatal psychiatry, intensive home based treatment services.

Training Centres / Sub-Specialities

Key Features

• The various posts provide high quality training arranged by training centre tutors, including weekly case conferences, journal clubs, Balint group training and protected individual supervision sessions.
• Additional training sessions are also provided for BST trainees which comprise research presentations by local and visiting speakers, OSCE and CFME exam preparation, specialty service seminars and interdisciplinary simulation training in a range of psychiatric emergencies.
• All posts provide on call experience for BST trainees which is frequently supervised by a HST trainee as well as a consultant. The full range of on call experience settings are covered and include inpatient psychiatry units, emergency departments, general hospitals, a child and adolescent inpatient unit, community residential units.
• Training and experience in delivering ECT is provided in ECTAS approved centres in Galway University Hospital and Mayo University Hospital.
• Trainees are encouraged to participate in management and governance activities including engagement in service development, committee work, clinical audit and trainee representation.
• The deanery benefits from close ties to the medical school of NUIGalway, which has several active education programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level and multiple interdisciplinary research activities of relevance to psychiatry. Several clinicians in the training scheme are research active in the fields of neuroscience and health services research, and regularly supervise trainees in the completion of research projects to the point of conference presentation and journal publication as well as clinical audit.
• Trainees are supported in engaging in formal postgraduate training, audit and research activities. Several previous trainees have successfully completed Higher Diplomas or Masters level courses in Clinical Teaching, Medical Science and Clinical Research as well as MD and PhD degrees on a range of research topics. Trainees are facilitated in accessing these opportunities and other resources available through the university including library, e-resources and research supports. A biennial Deanery Day is arranged which provides a platform for regional trainees to present their research projects in oral or poster format.
• The discipline of psychiatry at NUIG provides active opportunities for trainees to engage in undergraduate teaching both in Galway and throughout other clinical services in the region, which include medical academies in Castlebar and Ballinasloe. There are close collaborative teaching and research links with other academic disciplines in the university including Psychology, Anatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology and Nursing.

Clinical Exposure

The full range of general adult and specialty service placements are available for trainees in the region throughout the 3 training centres, including inpatient units attached to Galway, Mayo and Roscommon hospitals, and outpatient clinics in a range of settings attached to inpatient units, standalone day services, primary care services. Most services also provide clinical exposure through day hospitals, day centres, community residential units, nursing home and domiciliary visits. In addition later life services provide exposure to domiciliary and nursing home visits, and community nursing residential centres. Child and adolescent services provide clinical exposure through outpatient clinics, clinic-based group programmes and school visits. Further opportunities are available through the CAMHS Day Hospital in Merlin Park Hospital and through a state of the art inpatient CAMHS unit also at Merlin Park Hospital which is an approved centre. ID services provide clinical exposure through residential service and supported employment settings. Several trainees also access specialty training in forensic psychiatry and addictions through rotating to these national specialty posts in Dublin as part of the BST training plan. Individual consultants also provide additional training in their subspecialties of interest to trainees in their specific posts and these include academic psychiatry, forensic psychiatry and risk assessment, medical psychotherapy for complex non-psychotic conditions and personality disorder, electroconvulsive therapy.

Additional Information

Trainees commencing the scheme are generally offered two general adult psychiatry posts in one of the three training centres for their first 2 six month posts. After successful completion of foundation year, 6 further posts are allocated in consultation with the vice dean to comprise a mix of general adult psychiatry posts, regional specialty posts, national specialty posts across at least 2 training centres, individually tailored to the trainee’s training needs and interests. The training scheme has a high success rate in trainees attaining their professional examinations and transitioning to higher specialist training and academic posts.