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Dear  

Notes from the Chair

Welcome to the 2024 Autumn-Winter edition of the biannual SYMH Newsletter.

I hope you enjoy reading it, and as always please contact me directly at danielpellen@gmail.com or via the Youth Psychiatry Open Forum WhatsApp group (see below) if you have any comments or questions.

Daniel Pellen
Chair, Bi-national Section of Youth Mental Health Committee

Certificate of Advanced Training (Daniel Pellen)

From the beginning of this year a group of SYMH members has been meeting fortnightly with College staff to build on the work we have already done over the past four years and prepare all the necessary documentation for the first new Certificate of Advanced Training in over a decade. This is no mean feat.

The documentation must be approved by the Committee for Training and the Education Committee before final approval by the Board. Our aim is to have the Board consider our application at their meeting on August 10. Although this is still tight timing, we believe it will enable us to allow the first set of trainees to enrol to start in February 2025.

RANZCP SYMH Annual Face to Face Meeting: Saturday 23^rd March 2024 (Lisa Jukes)

The Committee met at Maddison House, NSW Branch headquarters.

We discussed the SYMH symposium at July Congress, the Certificate of Advanced Training progress (reality now tangibly closer, with proposed commencement in 2025), and the Youth Mental Health Section conference on the Gold Coast in July.

We reviewed the work plan from 2023, and reflected on what we see are the current issues in the Youth sector. The ‘Youth’ and ‘Young Adult’ terms, the changes in the way mental health care are available and accessed, with significant differences noted between jurisdictions, and especially in New Zealand. Changes in recent years in the private sector, especially in NSW, with increase development of services in inpatient units and day programs.

We reflected on issues relating to training opportunities and experiences early in training that influence confidence and interest in Youth Mental Health, and the importance of recognition as a Faculty to raise the status of Youth Psychiatry training, expertise and membership. There was preliminary discussion about the process for both Recognition of Prior Learning and ‘grandfathering in’ members to a future Faculty of Youth Mental Health, alongside the CAT pathway, and a number of people have been identified already as prospective Directors of Advanced Training in each jurisdiction (outside this meeting).

During the meeting a new dedicated app for the Section of Youth Mental Health was set up, to include trainees and fellows in a WhatsApp community allowing discussion of ideas, networking and communication, and we continue to seek better ways to engage with and attract members, including affiliate members, and trainees to Youth Mental Health. We also aim to review membership for what they want from the Section newsletter.

There was recognition of the continued state of fragmentation of services in all jurisdictions, and discussion as to how best collaborate with strategic partners including Primary care / GPs, Headspace centres, PHNs, Private Sector, YES programs nationally and others.

The committee identified there are 17 current position statements relating to Youth Mental Health on the college website and will need to be reviewed. There was also discussion about new position statements for development.

The education series including well attended webinars (4 to date) has been well regarded and the webinars ideally will be linked to the Youth Mental Health webpage as well. Upcoming webinars will include one on Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Prof Pat McGorry is the SYMH lead speaker at the SYMH Symposium at July Conference and is also giving a keynote earlier in the day.

SYMH Conference 2024

On behalf of the bi-National Committee, I am looking forward enormously to welcoming you to the Section of Youth Mental Health Conference, which will be held in the Hilton, Surfer’s Paradise on 5^th and 6^th July 2024 – please register as soon as possible here!

We will hear the very latest updates about the forthcoming Certificate of Advanced Training in Youth Mental Health, as well as a superb array of speakers. The Conference will be opened by Ms Grace Tame, who was Australian of the Year, 2021, in honour of her tireless activism and advocacy for abuse survivors. She is an inspiring speaker and will provide a highly motivational opening to what we hope will be an inspiring conference! Prof Patrick McGorry is another amazing activist and advocate, named Australian of the Year in 2010, for his lead in driving the science, and development of Youth Mental Health Services, which are becoming ever more widespread worldwide, and we look forward to a fascinating dialogue between the two in the opening session!

Hope to see you there!

Dr Iain Macmillan, Convenor

Youth Psychiatry Open Forum on WhatsApp (Jarrad Paul)

In March this year we formed a WhatsApp community, the Youth Psychiatry Open Forum. This group was developed to connect like-minded psychiatrists and registrars with a passion for youth mental health. We envisage this Open Forum will provide a platform for information sharing, constructive debate and a sense of connectedness amongst peers. Please click the link here or scan the QR code elow to join, and feel free to share with others. We kindly ask that new members introduce themselves so that we can continue to feel safe to contribute to our online community.

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If there is anything you would like to see included in future newsletters please contact membership@ranzcp.org