Undergraduate Psychiatry Survey
What is the title of the project?
Exploring the teaching and assessment of undergraduate psychiatry in the medical schools of the United Kingdom: a mixed-methods approach.
What is the project about?
The project aims to find out how psychiatry is being taught to medical students in universities across the United Kingdom. We are using a mixed-methods approach, asking undergraduate leads of psychiatry at each university to fill in a written survey and attend subsequent semi-structured interviews.
What is the project timeline?
As of October 2021, just over half of UK medical schools have filled in our written survey. We plan to conduct interviews between January - February 2022. We are due to present our findings at the RCPsych International Congress in June 2022.
If you have any questions or comments, please email
Ms Deepika Sharma (project co-lead) at dmsharma1@sheffield.ac.uk
Who can I contact to find out more?
Meet the Research Team
She has been to Zambia to contribute actively in the M Med teaching programme. She currently works as a Clinical Teaching Fellow teaching medical students in Derby.
Rehabilitation Psychology in 2010 and my PhD in Applied Psychology in 2014 at the University of
Nottingham. Throughout my studies I have combined my academic work with clinical experience
both as a care assistant in social care facilities and as a rehabilitation support worker in a NHS
hospital. Since my PhD I have completed a number of NHS England, local council and National
Institute of Health Research funded projects as well as supervising MSc student projects and
supporting undergraduate medical teaching at the University of Nottingham. More recently I have
taken up the Research Project Manager post at Derby Psychiatry Teaching Unit seeking to evaluate
and improve psychiatry education. My research interests combine my love for mixed-methods
research with interpersonal communication, excellence in healthcare provision and patient and
public involvement in research and healthcare.
I have always had a keen interest in medical education. This started in my Foundation Training, when I would enjoy providing bedside teaching to Liverpool medical students. My interest in medical education continued to grow throughout my postgraduate training and since I became a Consultant. My interest lies not only in undergraduate medical education, but also postgraduate.
In November 2018, I was appointed as the Deputy Director for Year 4 of the course at Liverpool Medical School and as the undergraduate psychiatry lead for the medical school. I continue in both roles to this day. As well as writing exam questions for Liverpool medical finals, I also write and review questions for the Medical Schools Council Assessment Alliance (MSCAA). I represent Liverpool Medical School on the Royal College of Psychiatrists Undergraduate Education Forum. I regularly supervise both Year 4 and Year 5 Liverpool students and really enjoy offering an optional placement (SAMP) to those Year 5 students who have a keen interest in psychiatry.
I first heard about the Association of University Teachers of Psychiatry (AUTP) in 2019 and quickly signed up to be a member of the organisation and attended their excellent annual conference in Birmingham that year. My interest in and involvement with the work of the AUTP has grown over the last couple of years and I was delighted when I was informed I had been elected to succeed Prof Subodh Dave as Chair of the AUTP.
My goal is to, not only raise the profile of psychiatry in the undergraduate curriculum, but also more fundamentally to try to help create more psychologically-minded junior doctors as they progress through their medical training.
As AUTP Chair, I aspire to grow the membership of the organisation, increase its diversity of membership and to continue the excellent work achieved by Prof Dave during his tenure as Chair.
I have a fantastic team working alongside me at the AUTP and very much look forward to helping the organisation go from strength to strength.
Jinal graduated from Imperial College London, where she obtained a First-Class Honours degree (BSc) in Neuroscience and Mental Health in 2016 and worked closely with faculty to improve student mental health as the President of Psychiatry Society. She was a Pathfinder Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 2016-2019. Jinal has extensive research experience in psychiatry, and has presented at multiple conferences. She’s interested in medical education, student and physician mental health, working with underserved and minority populations, and consultation-liaison psychiatry.