THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CARE OF MEDICAL PATIENTS - A CHALLENGE FOR UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL-EDUCATION

A recent joint report by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Psychiatrists has argued the case for improving the psycho logical and psychiatric care of medical patients. It makes a number of suggestions about staff education and training but does not specifica lly address undergraduate medical teaching. Following recommendations by the General Medical Council, UK medical schools are reorganising th eir undergraduate curricula with a new emphasis on equipping students for the preregistration year. These two important sets of recommendati ons present a challenge to medical education. In this article we repor t on a meeting which considered what the newly qualified doctor needs to know about psychological and psychiatric aspects of general patient care, how far the current psychiatric curriculum meets those needs, a nd how it could be improved.