The Thought Broadcast
The Thought Broadcast primarily aims to demystify the Scholarly Project and humanise research by sharing the trainee experience. We will focus on some of the stories behind successful projects, including how the authors came up with ideas and transformed these into published research. Additionally, to complement the podcast series and better support trainees, we will hear from consultant psychiatrists who are experienced in publishing and research, and in supervising and examining the Scholarly Project.
As The Thought Broadcast develops, we hope to expand the podcast to discuss a wide range of research-related content with other trainees and early career psychiatrists. We hope that The Thought Broadcast can be an interactive experience with trainees from across Australia and New Zealand getting involved, and shaping the podcast in the direction that will benefit them the most.
The Thought Broadcast
Thought Broadcast Takes Congress 2023
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The 2023 RANZCP Congress was held in Perth in May this year, on the theme New Horizons, Connected Futures. With almost 1800 delegates in Perth and over 450 online, it was the biggest Congress yet! Ashna Basu and Andrew Amos chatted to delegates with a roving mic, covering their stories, thoughts on the talks, and even the experience of bringing a child to Congress!
Music: https://freesound.org/people/ShadyDave/sounds/277375/
Logo: Sidonie Prentice
Disclaimer:
This podcast is provided to you for information purposes only and to provide a broad public understanding of various mental health topics. The podcast may represent the views of the author and not necessarily the views of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists ('RANZCP'). The podcast is not to be relied upon as medical advice, or as a substitute for medical advice, does not establish a doctor-patient relationship and should not be a substitute for individual clinical judgement. By accessing The RANZCP's podcasts you also agree to the full terms and conditions of the RANZCP's Website. Expert mental health information and finding a psychiatrist in Australian or New Zealand is available on the RANZCP’s Your Health In Mind Website.
We're here at the conference center in Perth, and this is the uh second day of the Congress. Ash Nabazu and myself uh have been representing Australasian psychiatry and doing a round of interviews with uh Congress attendees. We've heard a lot of different topics from a lot of different people, uh, but everybody seemed to be very happy, particularly with the New Horizons theme of the Congress, and uh they certainly seem to be smiling. So uh we hope you enjoy these interviews and uh we we intend to expand on this in coming years.
SPEAKER_07Hi, I'm Ashner, and we've got Andrew here from Australasian Psychiatry and the Thought Broadcast Podcast, and we're interviewing Dr. Ahmed today. So, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?
SPEAKER_01Sure, I'm a psychiatrist working in Sydney, New South Wales. I came to psychiatry quite late in my career. I had a previous career in uh journalism and media and public health and general practice. So, more recent career as a psychiatrist, the last 10 years. Um, my particular interest is trauma. I'm a trauma psychiatrist, is how I identify, but mostly working in emergency department situations. So, I guess one of the reasons I'm here is that the emergency psychiatry network have a couple of presentations that I'm about to be participant in a hypothetical. This is a good warm-up, which I'm very anxious about because I have no idea what's coming. It's going to be um, I think quite challenging about managing difficult, difficult scenarios in the emergency department.
SPEAKER_07So I mean, what an amazing story. That's so interesting. Um, could you tell us a bit about your presentation and what you'll be talking about?
SPEAKER_01It's actually a hypothetical. So, Dr. Chris Ryan, who needs no introduction, will be um managing the proceedings, which is in itself quite scary. Um, and they've called it a series of unfortunate events. So I'm on a panel with an emergency physician, an ethicist, I think the chief psychiatrist here, um, a couple of other people, and we'll be throwing these difficult scenarios. There's no preparation, no presentation. It's probably responding to the scenarios as we go. And I think I'm not sure if they want us to be scratching each other's eyes out or reaching agreement, but I'm sure we'll be quite tense.
SPEAKER_07That's amazing. I've never heard of that format at a conference before.
SPEAKER_01And have you been to a few congresses in your time? Yeah, I have, not probably not for a while. I recall going to Hobart, would have been about six or seven years ago, and Darwin around that time too. Maybe three or four previously.
SPEAKER_08Well, it seems like we've struck gold with our first interviewee. Chris Ryan's a teddy bear. I think he'll have a great time with your panel. And and it's I really don't think it's gonna be uh an antagonistic process. They really want to draw out as much information as you can get. I was really interested to say to hear you say that you you had been a journalist before, and it seems like there'd be a lot of transition between that. Have you noticed that you've been able to draw on those skills in this profession?
SPEAKER_01Look, it's interesting. I might be using the term journalist a bit loosely. I work I did TV work for the ABC with Norman Swan quite a long time ago, and I've done a lot of writing, so it's part of a health communications business and taught writing and communication skills. I think that's one of the reasons they thought maybe I could handle this scenario, but actually, most of the work I've been involved in is very practiced, very researched, I'm always very well prepared. And so I always feel like I can manage those situations well when I'm prepared. This is there's no preparation for this situation, so but one of the things we talk about in emergency psychiatry is actually convincing everyone you can't, even when you're not, and I guess it's a little bit of what will be required that I might be screaming on the inside, but I'll need to give the appearance of having all the answers and be able to make decisions.
SPEAKER_08I'm Andrew Amos, I'm uh deputy editor of Australasian Psychiatry, and we're accosting people as they come out of the plenary here at the uh Congress in Perth. Uh, just trying to find out why people are here, what they're particularly interested in, and um maybe get some thoughts about the talk that you've just seen. So, could you just introduce yourself?
SPEAKER_09Yeah, my name's Tony Corner. Um, I work in Sydney. Uh I'm involved in the psychotherapy program there. Um the background and conversational model. Oh, fantastic. And uh, what have you just been to see? Uh one from uh Professor Gal Balley and the second one from Mark Lawrence. Um both very good talks.
SPEAKER_08Mark, I think, is um I work on a board uh committee with uh Mark Lawrence Membership Engagement Committee, and um he's been very vocal in promoting some um Indigenous and Maori rights within the college. Was that part of the talk today, or was it some other topic?
SPEAKER_09No, it was part of the talk, and uh personally I'm interested in this area. I think it's very important uh in Australia as well as New Zealand, in some way. New Zealand leaders, I think, in uh terms of uh developing systems with respect for two cultures. Um, of course, in Australia, in some ways it's a more complex issue with many indigenous uh nations that um we're gradually learning to understand, I think, a little better, but we have a long way to go.
SPEAKER_08You said that you work in conversational models of psychotherapy, and I imagine that working with indigenous and Maori populations might complicate that a little bit. Is it something that you've had to deal with in your professional career?
SPEAKER_09Uh look, I actually think the conversational model is quite a simple name. It's about having conversations, creative conversations between people. I actually think that kind of idea, I mean Indigenous Australians might refer to yarning, for instance, is very consistent with indigenous cultures. Indeed, I think it's more Western systems of understanding which tend to be reductive, uh to get away from ideas of spirit and connection. So actually, I think conversational model, although it may need to be adapted, but people have adapted it to working on land, for instance.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_09So I think it's actually quite resonant with a lot of uh the understanding of the dreaming. The dreaming, after all, is timeless, like the unconscious, one might say.
SPEAKER_08Alright, well, look, thank you very much for talking with us. Is there anything else that you'd like to uh highlight for us that you think might be um standout points in the conference?
SPEAKER_09Uh I'll be speaking on Thursday, so uh what's the topic on Thursday? Well, uh some of you may be aware that there's been some controversy around the uh 2020 Clinical Disorder Guidelines group, which represents uh psychodynamic practitioners, uh, will be questioning some of those findings in this forum. Uh so that's the essence of it. Uh, and we feel it's important that the psychodynamic voice continues to be heard within the larger forums of psychiatry. Well, uh look, just my own talk in this will will relate to psychiatric identity, and our identity is people that connect and understand at a deeper level with people. Uh, I think without that, without the capacity for an adequate psychodynamic formulation, general psychiatry will suffer, in my opinion. So that's a central message of my talk.
SPEAKER_07Andrew and Ashner again with the Thought Broadcast Podcast from Australasian Psychiatry. Um, Andrew and Nicole, if you could introduce yourselves.
SPEAKER_00Hey, I'm Andrew Daltry, originally from the UK, been living in Cairns for seven years, and I've just finished my fellowship training and uh older age AT.
SPEAKER_04Morning, I'm Nicole Dragoning. I'm a stage three trainee at Cairns doing child adolescent in CL.
SPEAKER_07So both of you would have gone through the scholarly project, or perhaps might be going through the scholarly project. Could you tell us a bit about what your research was on?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sure. So I started out as wanting to do a validation study of the 4AT, delirium screening in Far North Queensland. That turned out to be bigger than Ben Hur, so I scaled it back a bit and I did a systematic review of delirium screening tools in Aboriginal and Torres Islander and indigenous minorities and culturally diverse peoples of the world and found out that there aren't any. So I'm gonna still move on and hopefully do that validation of the 4AT later on.
SPEAKER_07Really important area.
SPEAKER_04And Nicole, I've actually waylaid my plans because I hadn't decided on advanced training yet. So there's nothing in the works, but it's gonna be CL-esque, is all that I can say about mine. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07Great, and Congress, an exciting time of year. Is this your first Congress? Have you been to many before?
SPEAKER_00I was the trainee rep for the Cairns Congress a few years ago. I arranged the social in the evening, and I was also with the PIF mentoring. So I've been to one real life one, one virtual one, and now this one.
SPEAKER_04This is my third edition, which is exciting. Uh, first at Cairns, and I've ultimately ended up working there. So I think going to Congresses does help to kind of learn about different areas. And what brings you back?
SPEAKER_00I like hearing topics I don't normally get to touch on, uh, especially like the leadership and management stuff, the uh different ethnicities that come to these sort of talks and talk about how to do psychiatry in different ways I'm not familiar with, it's really important.
SPEAKER_04Likewise, it's the fruit salad of different presenters and topics and opportunities to sit in on random talks that you wouldn't normally hear about.
SPEAKER_08Uh look, you've you've just gone to the plenary sessions this morning. Do you have any uh feedback about those? Any particular points of importance, things that struck you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um I thought it was uh really important, and I hope the word brave is the right word to use, to get up on stage and talk openly about racism in medicine. And I think the sort of uh the hidden curriculum is a real problem still being taught at medical schools and still needs a lot of more addressing.
SPEAKER_04I really like Megan Galbelli's presentation on the first thousand days, um, and I'm really quite interested to see what happens in the space of advanced training in perinatal because it's a niche that has not quite found its place yet. Um, so I'm interested to see what the future of that looks like.
SPEAKER_07Thank you so much for chatting to us. Ashna and Andrew here from the Thought Broadcast, and we're here with Jacinta and Hazel. Jacinta, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
SPEAKER_06Uh yes, so I'm a psychiatry registrar stage two in Dubbo and currently on maternity leave. And Hazel here is just about seven months old.
SPEAKER_07She's absolutely beautiful. I know she's a budding podcaster, she's ready to get the mic. Can you tell us about the experience of bringing a bub to Congress and how it's been?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, so far it's been really good. She had a wonderful time yesterday with the service dogs in the exhibition center. Uh, and I've been lucky enough that my partner's come along and has been looking after her during the day and during the sessions, but she's quite popular in between.
SPEAKER_07Absolutely, I think she's one of the star attractions. Have you found you've had access to sort of nappy changing facilities or feeding facilities?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, so there's a family room set up. Uh, and then our all-inclusive bathrooms have been good as well for babies.
SPEAKER_07I did see the family room downstairs and it like live streams some of the talks, so it's fantastic. You can care for Bub in a lower stimulus environment without missing out on any of the talks. Do you think you'd do it again? Would Hazel get another trip to a Congress?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, we've seen a couple one and two year olds around, so yeah, we'll have to come back next year.
SPEAKER_08So, my name's Andrew Amos, I'm the deputy editor of Australasian Psychiatry, one of the college journals. And we're interviewing people to find out what sorts of things they're going to at the Congress, what their thoughts are about the program, that sort of thing. Uh I'll get you first to introduce yourselves.
SPEAKER_05My name is Vijay. I'm a general adult psychiatrist working in Fremantle, WE. So a local. Very good to meet you, Vijay.
SPEAKER_03Hi, my name is Mithul Bad, and I'm the head of service and psychiatrist at Fremantle Hospital.
SPEAKER_08Fantastic. So a couple of locals. And um, have you been to the plenary sessions or any of the keynotes so far? Well, it's Tuesday morning, and we've had a couple of days so far. So I think we've gone to all the four. So, what what stands out in your mind as the uh the best parts of the Congress so far?
SPEAKER_05Uh I quite enjoyed the talk by Mark Lawrence this morning and also Prof. Gallibali. And yesterday's keynote from the Canadian speaker was also quite interesting. I can't remember the second one now.
SPEAKER_03I think um it pretty much linked with the the theme of the Congress, like New Horizon, and I think it looks like the Western and Indigenous link. I think it was connected quite nicely. I think both plenary sessions were pretty much on focused on that like theme, so that was I was really really impressed with that. I think as um Dr. Lazar just mentioned, I think um Canadian indigenous culture, and I had even a chance to learn about Maori, so that was quite nice to hear, so no, really enjoyed.
SPEAKER_08One of the other people that we've talked to mentioned a more collective approach to health in other parts of the world, and having worked with some Indian doctors in Australia, they say that the family is often much more involved in India. That's true. I agree.
SPEAKER_03That's true. I think in India, I think the cultural difference is quite I mean you can you are very well supported like by your family. So just to give an example, like number of residential like age care that you would see, probably you may not see back home in India because I think it's a kind of a culture that uh your family members are pretty much cared by the family, uh which which is changing. So there are like pros and cons on both sides, but uh yeah, when you ask about like what's the difference, I think it's quite uh significant difference between all the culture. But uh when you when you train here, you you learn more about uh here, so that's nice.
SPEAKER_02Thanks to our producers David Beale and Nishida Kuriba, Shady Day for our intro music, Sidoni Prentice for our artwork, and of course Australasian Skytree for the opportunity.