Prospective postgraduate students are welcome to approach the Head of Discipline to discuss opportunities. Currently these opportunities comprise of:

• Registrar (Psychiatry) and MMed degree (with link to page below) – applicants must have at least 6 months of general medical experience post-community service. Posts are advertised every 6 months (in approximately April/May and Sept/Oct) by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health. Registrar posts are advertised in the national press and on the KZN Health website. Successful applicants enter into a 4 year contracted training position within the Discipline of Psychiatry at UKZN and concurrently register as MMed students at UKZN. The MMed degree is successfully completed when registrars have passed both the Parts I and II professional examinations and have completed a research dissertation or by publication (1 or more first author publications in an accredited journal).
  • Overview of Registrar Training Programme
• MMedSci (Psychiatry) (with link to page below) – applicants may apply for the 1 year full-time or 2 years part-time MMedSci (Psychiatry) degree. This is a masters degree by research and may be completed either by dissertation or by publication.
• PhD (with link to page below) – applicants from any discipline related to mental health and psychiatry may apply as full-time or part-time doctoral students. PhD is by research only and may be completed either by dissertation or by publication.

Registrar selection process

The Department of Health (KZN) runs the recruitment process for a twice yearly intake of registrars – for 1^st January and 1^st July.

As DOH operates on a replacement only system, the number of vacant posts is determined by the current number of vacated posts.

In this regard the necessary administrative aspects in terms of recruitment and selection have to occur and are detailed hereunder.

1)    All applications must be submitted to Natalia (DOH).

2)    No applications received at Medical School will be considered. If applications are received at Medical School, they will be redirected to Natalia (DOH) before the closing date.

3)    The selection committee is representative across the race, gender, organization (DOH /UKZN Med School) and geographical position where applicable

4)    Communication of the outcome of interviews is managed by the DOH and candidates should be informed of the outcome within 1 month of the interview.

Please contact Mrs K Kader on email khairun-nisa.kader@kznhealth.gov.za or telefaxed to 033 394 1404 for further enquiries regarding availability of posts.

The current status of registrar posts in Psychiatry is as follows:

HPCSA training numbers – 41

Current funded posts – 31

Supernumeraries – 3

Academic/service platform

Postgraduate training of registrars takes place across the following postgraduate academic/service platform:

*#NB: 3 months of C&A Psychiatry core experience at either of these two institutions

MMed Degree

OUTLINE OF THE DEGREE

The Masters in Psychiatry is a post graduate degree completed by a research dissertation and course work. Candidates register full time for a 4 year maximum period as registrars in an approved post.  The specialist training is provided through clinical supervision and an academic training program. Candidates will be eligible to write the Fellowship in Psychiatry examination (CMSA).

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

MBCHB or equivalent degree recognized and registered with the HPCSA.

Post internship and community service

Part 1 FCPsych exam or Diploma in Mental Health is an advantage

SCOPE OF COURSE

The MMed course is made up Part 1 basic science module and Part 2 psychiatry module.

The Part 1 module focuses on:

Neuro- anatomy

Neurophysiology

Psychology

Introduction to clinical psychiatry

Registrars are required to pass the MMed Part 1 examination conducted by the Department or the FC Psych Part 1 examination conducted by the CMSA within 18 months of commencement of registrarship.

The Part 2 programme emphasis the clinical aspects of psychiatry training. Teaching and training are predominantly integrated into the clinical rotations which include general adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, community psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, and forensic psychiatry.

Please refer to the Departmental handbook for details of the academic programme, assessments and requirements. The final exit examination is the FC Psych Part 2 conducted by the CMSA.

SCOPE OF RESEARCH

A wide scope of research may be considered including: basic neurosciences; medical anthropology; mental health research; medico legal; ethics and psychiatric epidemiology. Submission of the first draft of the dissertation is a requirement to be eligible to write the final exit examination.

PRESENTATION OF THESIS

There are two options for presentation of the thesis. The first is the classic thesis format, while the other is “by publication” format. The latter allows the student to submit one publication that is published subsequent to registration in the registered field in an accredited journal.

Interested potential applicants are welcome to e mail the Department of Psychiatry.

MMedSci (Psychiatry)

Masters in Medical Science (Psychiatry)

OUTLINE OF THE DEGREE

The Masters in Medical Science in Psychiatry is a postgraduate degree completed 100% by research dissertation. Candidates register for a period of 1 year full-time or 2 years part-time and are required to conduct research in the Discipline of Psychiatry under the supervision of a senior academic staff member of the Discipline.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

• Honours level degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. Psychology, Nursing, OT, Social Work, Medical Science, Health Science, Pharmacy, Anthropology, Sociology, etc)
  • Fellowship of the College of Psychiatrists of SA (or equivalent specialist degree)

SCOPE OF RESEARCH

A wide scope of research may be considered including: basic neurosciences; medical anthropology; mental health services research; medico-legal; ethics; public mental health; psychiatric epidemiology; etc.

PRESENTATION OF THE THESIS

There are two options for presentation of the thesis. The first is the classic thesis format, while the other is ‘by publication’ format. The latter allows the student to submit a number of publications that are published subsequent to registering for the degree, focus on a common topic, and are published in accredited journals.

Interested potential applicants are welcome to email Prof JK Burns to discuss possible applications and topics of research on burns@ukzn.ac.za

PhD (Psychiatry)

OUTLINE OF THE DEGREE

The PhD (Psychiatry) is a postgraduate degree completed 100% by research dissertation. Candidates register for a period of 3 years full-time or part-time and are required to conduct research in the Discipline of Psychiatry under the supervision of a senior academic staff member of the Discipline.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

• Masters level degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. Psychology, Nursing, OT, Social Work, Medical Science, Health Science, Pharmacy, Anthropology, Sociology, etc)
• Fellowship of the College of Psychiatrists of SA (or equivalent specialist degree) plus adequate research experience

SCOPE OF RESEARCH

A wide scope of research may be considered including: basic neurosciences; medical anthropology; mental health services research; medico-legal; ethics; public mental health; psychiatric epidemiology; etc.

PRESENTATION OF THE THESIS

There are two options for presentation of the thesis. The first is the classic thesis format, while the other is ‘by publication’ format. The latter allows the student to submit a number of publications (minimum 3) that are published subsequent to registering for the degree, focus on a common topic, and are published in accredited journals.

Interested potential applicants are welcome to email Prof JK Burns to discuss possible applications and topics of research on burns@ukzn.ac.za