Australasian Psychiatry 28(5)

Interest in psychiatry career pathways continues to grow this year online events and Highlights include:

activities.

•• a live Facebook Q&A event with a RANZCP Fellow and trainee answering questions about psychiatry training and careers, attended by over 160 Facebook users

The RANZCP’s Psychiatry Interest Forum (PIF) program continues to grow, recently passing a new milestone of over 3000 active members across Australia and New Zealand. This established and effective engagement program increases insight into psychiatry and encourages medical students and prevocational doctors to pursue psychiatry as their career choice. The PIF does this by engaging with medical student societies, university medical schools, rural clinical schools, regional training hubs and other organisations and conferences. The program has adapted well to the restrictions brought about by COVID-19 by delivering virtual and

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•• an online Introduction to Psychiatry short course with five College members presenting on rural and regional psychiatry and training, attended by almost 130 PIF members •• the introduction of a new PIF essay competition specifically for prevocational doctors on the topic of the psychiatrist’s role in responding to global disasters •• development of new PIF webinars on various psychiatry topics. The shift of the PIF program entirely into the virtual space has been highly successful, reflected in the large number of new PIF memberships received in the first two thirds of the year – 620 new members, representing a 6% increase compared to the same time last year.

As an established long-term program of the RANZCP, since 2014, the PIF has had a pronounced impact on supporting recruitment into psychiatry: •• Over 5000 medical students and medical practitioners have joined the PIF since the program’s inception. •• 859 PIF members have transitioned into the RANZCP Training Program, 19 of whom are now RANZCP Fellows. •• In the first half of 2020, 102 PIF members transitioned into the RANZCP Training Program. •• 137 current PIF members identify as Indigenous. Eleven Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and eight Ma¯ori PIF members have entered the RANZCP Training Program. If you are interested in being involved in the program, please email [email protected] The RANZCP has received Australian Government funding under the Specialist Training Program to deliver the PIF program.