Kgothatso Legong, fourth year student at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, offers advice to fellow students following his first experiences of working in psychiatry.

My first week of the psychiatry block started with us going to a hospital. Whiles we waited for the class to commence, I was very eager to speak with patients and learn more from the doctors. I have to say, the psychiatry block was very different from other blocks I had rotated in.

Here is what to expect from psychiatry:

1. More talking, less biology

It will be very clear from the get-go that psychiatry textbooks do not have colourful artistic images of hearts and kidneys. A student who is more visual might find this block challenging as it is also not much possible to imagine the things you will be taught. I have to say, I found this block very relaxing. It was me and my black and white page in-front of me. 

2. Study your DSM-5-TR

You will be required to know DSM-5 from front and back and back to front. This task can be a bit intimidating as that textbook is very thick; and yes, it does not have any pictures included. But it is written like a narrative novel. The diagnosis listed in them flow very nicely and it is not easy to get lost while studying it. I also found it was useful cross reference with other psychiatry textbook. 

3. Polish interviewing skills

The first patient I was assigned to interview seemed irritated with me. At that moment I feared that I might not do as well as I would have liked to. Fortunate enough, the patient opened to me when I told him exactly my intentions. From that point he was very gay and bright. Not all patients are welcoming, and it is to be expected. Some patients can lead the interview so much that you can spend hours talking to them and still not be done. Some patients will give you short direct answers and careless to elaborate. All these require patience and experience with speaking with people of different tastes of personalities.

4. Get ready for amazing stories

I have heard the most bizarre and shocking stories in my psychiatry block. I guess that is the reason I loved it so much and long to rotate in it sooner next year. As medical students, we are very privileged to be entrusted with patient’s life stories and then look to us to make them feel better. Some of the patients I spoke to were very happy to talk to me because it had been days and weeks since they spoke with anyone in their wards. Yes, there were nurses, psychologists, and doctors around; but as students we brought a different texture to their everyday treatment. We were the breath of fresh air they longed so much for. It was fulfilling to realise the positive contribution I made to their treatment just by asking questions and listening.

At the end of my rotation, I found myself in a point of realisation. I said to myself, “If I were to specialise, I am definitely choosing this one discipline.”