Education

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences has a strong and demonstrated commitment to the training of new professionals and to improving the skills of current mental health workers. Our educational strength comes from a faculty who love to teach and who are passionate about developing new ways of teaching more effectively. We have a tradition of educational innovation and strong programs at all levels of medical, clinical psychology and basic science research training.  We are committed not only to providing training in validated treatments, but also to developing new and evidence-based approaches to training.

Our training programs are based on certain core beliefs which have long informed our Department.

• We believe that evidence-based training is a central mission of our Department.
  • If you are a member of our Department you can expect your contributions as a clinician-educator to be recognized through academic promotion based on your educational and clinical activities.
• We believe that we should train mental health professionals to work with those who have severe illness.
  • If you train here you should expect to graduate with the knowledge and skills you will need to substantively improve the lives of patients with complex and disabling illness.
• We believe that working with the ill is a vocation and expect both faculty and trainees to have a full commitment to their patients.
  • Our trainees can expect to work with faculty who model an attitude of respect and compassion toward those we serve.
• We believe that optimal treatment involves psychopharmacological, psychological and social interventions, and do not regard any one as sufficient in itself or inherently superior to another.
  • If you train with us you can expect to work with faculty who have high mutual regard and who respect and will train you in all modalities of treatment.
• We believe optimal care is delivered in a team-centred model of care, using evidence-based treatments.
  • Your training will ensure that you are comfortable working in a collaborative model of care in a patient-centred healthcare system involving family health teams, general clinics, and subspecialty programs. McMaster has been a leader in familty health team initiatives and has strong and well-integrated mental health system.
• We respect that our learners are adults and must be given the flexibility and support needed to develop their chosen career paths.
  • While respecting the need for strong core standards, we encourage the exchange of ideas and the use of electives to enrich our students training.
• We encourage independent thinking and the development of leadership skills in our students.
  • Our trainees are heard, and are expected to be active participants in their program’s ongoing refinement and evolution.
  • We have a strong record of graduates going on to assume leadership position across the country.
• We believe that learners pursuing careers as researchers should be fully supported
  • If you are planning a career in research you can expect to receive active mentorship, time to pursue research initiatives, and systematic training in research methodology through the Clinical Investigator Program.

In order to fulfill these values we have an undergraduate educational program that includes training that is at the forefront of e-learning, that is problem based, and that places emphasis on learning core pathological processes and recognizing and understanding the phenomenology of illness.  Our graduates lead e-learning and distributed campus/distant learning initiatives at McMaster.

Our residency program is highly regarded across the country and which ranks very well each year in the resident Match.  The program emphasizes individual attention to help trainees successfully launch their careers as educators, researchers and clinicians. Our graduates are widely sought after and have successful careers as practitioners and leaders in system design and reform. Our psychotherapy program has established the Gold Standard for comprehensive and rigorous training in evidence-based psychotherapies.

The Department encompasses two psychology training programs which are highly competitive and provide internships for candidates from both Canada and the U.S. Training is available in a full range of psychological assessment instruments and treatment modalities, all under close supervision.

We have more than 30 post-graduate/post-doctoral students whose work in basic science related to mental illness is highly valued and recognized by the Department.

The Department also oversees the Clinical Behavioural Sciences Program, which provides structured, systematic, and comprehensive training in psychotherapeutic treatments and administrative skills, available to community practitioners.

Supporting our overall educational commitment, and supporting those seeking careers as educators, the Department has close links with PERD (the Program for Educational Research and Development), a university educational research think tank which is known world-wide for the depth of its research and the educational leadership it has shown.

Our educational strength is due to the commitment of our individual faculty. Our faculty have won more than 10 university and national education awards in the past five years, our residents have won more than 15 in that same time frame. We are proud of our faculty and the sustained passion they have shown for teaching over the history of our Department and our trainees can expect to study and learn in an atmosphere in which education is a passion and the focus of their teachers careers.