NHS England Thames Valley (NHSE TV) has a strong history of providing higher training in Medical Psychotherapy (MPT). There are currently five Consultant Medical Psychotherapists (CMPs) working in NHSE TV with primary bases in Oxford and Aylesbury (within Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust) and Reading (in Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Health Trust).
There are three NTNs in Medical Psychotherapy, one of which is a dual NTN with General Adult Psychiatry. Each trainee will have their base in one of the three counties. They will keep this location as their primary base throughout the three years of their higher training, although the trainee will undertake sessional work at other bases in the rotation to allow them the full range of training experiences required to achieve the necessary competencies of the curriculum.
A full range of training experiences are available including psychodynamic psychotherapy long cases, brief interventions including MBT, CAT, PIT etc, as well as CBT and Family/Systemic work. A wide range of medical and non-medical supervisors are available for this work allowing a range of supervisory experiences.
As an academic centre there are ample opportunities to gain experience in training including post-graduate and under-graduate programmes as well as specialist psychodynamic and psychotherapy training experiences for junior doctors on the core trainee rotation.
There are also opportunities for research in the university department.
A formal medical psychotherapy post graduate academic programme is run jointly between NHSE TV and NHSE West Midlands. This Medical Psychotherapy Post Graduate Academic Programme has been cited as an example of good practice in the GMC small specialties review and consists of a three year rolling programme covering the theoretical underpinnings of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy through to their application in various clinical settings.
Trainees interested in applying for the Medical Psychotherapy rotation are advised to contact the Training Programme Director, Dr Dean Rutland, emailing at dean.rutland@berkshire.nhs.uk
Training Sites Medical Psychotherapy:
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust (for Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire posts)
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
DME: Alastair Reid – alastair.reid@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk
Training Programme Director and MPT: Dean Rutland – dean.rutland@berkshire.nhs.uk
Main hospital sites:
– Warneford Hospital, Oxford
– The Whiteleaf Centre, Aylesbury
– The Valley Centre, High Wycombe
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (for Berkshire posts).
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
DME – Raja Natarajan – raja.natarajan@berkshire.nhs.uk
Training Programme Director and MPT: Dean Rutland – dean.rutland@berkshire.nhs.uk
Main hospital sites:
– Prospect Park Hospital, Reading
What are our trainees saying about the programme?
“In this training, the perspectives held by psychiatrists in understanding mental illness are bridged with perspectives held by psychotherapists in understanding human experience and suffering. This is helpful in working with patients suffering with complex mental health disorders, such as severe personality disorder and medically unexplained symptoms, as well as a wide variety of other psychiatric presentations. The training in NHSE TV is organised in a highly supportive and nourishing environment by senior medical educators who are experts in their field.“ ST6