• Homepage

  • About RANZCP training

  • How to apply for a post

  • Academic Programme

  • Resources and Guidelines

  • Maori mental health training

  • Psychotherapy training

  • About Supervision

  • CME programme

  • Contact us



    Site version suitable for phones & other handhelds here

    Website design and admin: Felicity
    Please report any problems


    The Auckland Academic Programme

    Attendance at a formal educational programme for the initial three years of basic training and then for the two years of Advanced Training is an RANZCP requirement. The Auckland programme runs a combined 1st and 2nd Year programme all day on Wednesdays, and an all-day pre-exam programme for 3rd years on Thursdays. The Advanced Trainee seminars are on Thursday afternoons as well. All trainees get a full day-release teaching day during two 12-week university-style semesters, with a 2-week mid-term break and a 6-week mid-year break.


    The RANZCP Curriculum

    The Basic Training Curriculum can be viewed and printed off here: Curriculum
    If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, it can be downloaded from this link:

    You may find it a somewhat frustrating document as it is a curriculum not a syllabus, so it covers topic areas according to an Attitudes, Knowledge and Skills structure rather than going into fine detail. The Curriculum is being revised currently but is not likely to be fully revamped until about 2012. It's still a useful document to read so as to ensure that you cover the areas mentioned in it in your study plan.


    What else should you read during your training?

    Obviously you'll accumulate notes from the teaching sessions and read some of the main journals and take part in Journal Clubs within your DHBs. We also have a reading list of reimbursed texts which provides some guidance.
    You can download it here: Reimbursed Expenses. In addition, teachers during the course will recommend various references or reading material. You'll note that there are some other reimbursable expenses on this document, which covers the rules for reimbursement of your College fees, conference costs and for Advanced Training expenses as well. Please refer to the Reimbursed Expenses document for details, and see the ARRMOS website for the reimbursement form.

    Study groups and pre-exam help

    You can arrange with Rosalynn, our Administrator, to use the Training Centre after hours. If your group is meeting during working hours you'll also need to organise this with Rosalynn to make sure there's a free room.

    The 3rd-year programme cycles between Written exam and Clinical exam-oriented sessions, to help you to prepare. In addition, there's an annual pre-Writtens crammer course called "Psych Update", held in Christchurch in November. You get your costs covered to attend it one time during your training. Flyers about it will be left around the Training Centre well beforehand, or ask Rosalynn or Felicity for details around mid-year.

    In the 2-3 months before the Clinicals we organise weekly groups to practice mock-OCIs. Felicity will contact the immediately pre-Clinicals people directly to arrange these.

    We collect the presentations done by our various teachers wherever possible, and collate them onto a pre-Writtens CD for you to use as a back-up in case you missed any and to fill in gaps in your knowledge. Rosalynn also has other assessment-oriented disks from the College - a DVD with a talk about passing the Case Histories and a CD explaining the format of the Clinicals with a full mock-OCI video and discussion of marking by the mock-examiners. Ask Rosalynn if you want to borrow the Cases-DVD or the OCI-CD, or to make you a copy of the pre-Writtens CD. You're welcome to copy any of these disks at home on your own computer.

    Is there any fee for the academic programme?

    The Academic Programme is funded partly from Clinical Training Agency subsidies paid to the University of Auckland, partly from time and effort donated by psychiatrists and other clinicians around Auckland, and via a little top-up funding from the three Auckland DHBs. Currently, trainees are not charged any fees. Please note that we rely on the goodwill and interest of numerous teachers to make the teaching programme viable, so good attendance is essential.

    FAQs about teaching programme dilemmas

    What if you're in the pre-exam teaching year (3rd year) and have passed the Written exam - but the teaching sessions are Writtens-oriented?
    You still take your teaching day but you can organise your own study programme as you'll be preparing for the Clinicals - e.g. use the day for mock OCI practices or to finish writing up a Case History if you are still working on these.

    What if you're in pre-Clinicals Advanced Training? Which teaching year should you attend?
    You'll need to decide but it's your choice. Most people attend the pre-exam sessions for one year, anyway, but remember that once you pass you'll be playing catch-up so as to get ready to be a consultant in no time. The Advanced Training sessions are aimed at helping you with that transition.

    What should you do if you can't attend on a teaching day?
    You need to let Rosalynn know by email or phone, as she keeps attendance registers which are forwarded to the RMO Coordinators in the DHBs. Please note, however, that your consultant being away or your workplace being really busy are not reasons to miss teaching. It's the responsibility of your team manager and consultant to arrange cover as needed and attendance at teaching is both a right and required by the College. Contact your Training Facilitator or Felicity if you are having any problems of this sort.

    How we notify everyone about the academic timetable

    Exact details of session schedules, dates and presenters in the academic programme are finalised shortly before each teaching term begins (approx the initial week of March and the third week of July). The programme changes a little each year, according to the availability of presenters, and both the 1st/2nd Year and the Advanced Trainee programmes span a 2-year cycle. The 3rd Year programme is pre-exam focussed.
    As each term progresses the programme often alters slightly (and it may not initially be fully finalised). These changes are shown on this website as below, and on the Training Centre noticeboard.

    It pays to check this website page each Monday or Tuesday as updates are often done on Sundays
    If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact the Director of Training

    Academic Programme Timetables: First Term 2011
    TIMETABLES FOR FIRST TEACHING SEMESTER NOW LOADED
    Remember to hit "refresh" on your browser when you have the timetable page in front of you if you last checked the timetables quite recently - otherwise the old version, not the latest update, will come up again

    Wednesdays: 1st & 2nd years first semester 2012

    Thursdays: 3rd+ years first semester 2012 (Main teaching room)

    Thursdays: Advanced Trainees Programme first semester 2012 (Room 602)

    Academic Programme Timetables: Second Term 2011
    TIMETABLES FOR SECOND TEACHING SEMESTER WILL BE LOADED SHORTLY BEFORE TERM STARTS - teaching restarts 25th July (1sts & 2nds) and 26th July (3rds & ATs)
    Remember to hit "refresh" on your browser when you have the timetable page in front of you if you last checked the timetables quite recently - otherwise the old version, not the latest update, will come up again

    Initial week is somewhere at the end of July - exact date to be announced here later

    Wednesdays: 1st & 2nd Years 2nd semester 2012

    Thursdays: 3rd+ years 2nd semester 2012 (Main teaching room)

    Thursdays: Advanced Trainees Programme 2nd semester 2012 (Room 602)

    Collated academic programme across all years - for 2009-2010