Academic Lead(s):
At IoPPN/SLAM we can offer the broadest range of training opportunities in clinical and academic psychiatry in the UK. The Division of Academic Psychiatry comprises the six departments of psychiatry (Addictions, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, Old Age Psychiatry, Psychological Medicine and Psychosis Studies) and has a faculty of more than 100 Principal Investigators all of whom are potential IAT supervisors. The Division is closely entwined with the NHS with each of the departments allied to its equivalent clinical academic group (CAG) in the South London and Maudsley (SLAM) NHS Foundation Trust in order to facilitate translation of research into clinical care. No other speciality training program can provide supervision for projects covering the whole spectrum of psychiatry from public policy to molecular genetics, from psychological treatments to brain imaging and covering the life span, healthy adults and children as well as people with physical and mental health conditions.
King's College Hospital (KCH) is a regional neuroscience centre with a catchment of 4 million people, an exceptionally busy A&E department, an internationally recognised hyperacute stroke unit, and several award-winning and world class specialist neurology clinics. The breadth of exposure to acute and non-acute clinical neurology is outstanding, allowing comprehensive training in a teaching hospital environment. This is coupled with access to peripheral district general hospitals through the role of King’s as Lead Education Provider allowing a truly rounded clinical training to be coupled with an exceptional research environment.
The neurosurgery department is one of the largest in the UK, providing a highly subspecialist service in all neurosurgical disciplines. The Deep Brain Stimulation service for Parkinson Disease and the neuro-oncology subspeciality service are designated UK National Centres of Excellence.
King’s Health Partners (KHP) has devised a central training programme of transferable research skills for ACFs and ACLs which all ACFs and ACLs attend. This includes: Introduction to medical/ biostatistics, Literature searching; Critical appraisal skills; Systematic reviews; Meta-analysis; Regulatory framework of clinical research - GCP/ ethics; Introduction to research methodology and study design, including approaches to qualitative and quantitative research; Developing and setting aims and hypotheses; Practical research skills including recruitment, interviewing and data handling; Basic epidemiology; clinical trials (linked to the clinical trials units within KHP); Quantitative methods (surveys, cohort studies); Qualitative methods (focus groups, interviews) and mixed methods; Development and Evaluation of complex interventions (following the MRC framework). The course builds on teaching used in existing MSc programmes and other courses within KHP and KCL.
The Division of Academic Psychiatry teaches scientists and clinical practitioners. Each of its departments offers PhD studentships, and runs a variety of Masters courses and other training programmes. The Division also hosts numerous conferences, events and public debates. Uniquely the Division has a special role in the post graduate training of doctors to become qualified psychiatrists, in partnership with allied NHS Trusts, but also by contributing to the medical curriculum at King’s College London, equipping all doctors with some knowledge and skills relevant to mental health. All of the departments have hosted at least one IAT and research components include:
- The Addictions department which houses the National Addiction Centre which over the last 30 years has developed a body of research evidence that has informed the development of new treatment services for alcohol, smoking and drug problems in the UK;
- The Department of Psychosis Studies which is one of the world’s largest groups conducting research on psychosis and in 2013 launched the world’s first post-graduate course on early intervention in psychosis;
- The Department of Psychological Medicine which focuses on the interface between psychiatry and medicine, psychiatry and occupation, psychiatry and the military, and psychiatry in different settings and is pioneering translational research into the integration of mental and physical healthcare. It also hosts The Centre for Affective Disorders (CfAD) focuses on mood and anxiety disorders which are common disorders which cause great suffering for many people. The CfAD is a centre of excellence for understanding the science related to these illnesses and uses this knowledge to help develop new treatments of all types including psychological and pharmacological. The Centre brings together a number of world leading clinician scientists who already work at King's College London and these include Profs Anthony Cleare, Carmine Pariante, Allan Young and others. Affective disorders overlap with many other areas of psychiatry and medicine, so works with colleagues throughout King's and more widely. CfAD also hosts the International Society for Affective Disorders and the World Psychiatric Association Section for Affective Disorders.
- The Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry which is world-renowned for its basic and translational research in this field, including autism, ADHD, antisocial behaviour, intellectual disability, trauma, mood and eating disorders;
- The Department of Forensic & Neurodevelopmental Sciences which is one of Europe’s largest research groups focusing on the development of prosocial and antisocial behaviours across the lifespan and world leaders in brain imaging of infants, and in relating differences in brain structure and function to social and cognitive development; and
- The Department of Old Age Psychiatry has research interests ranging from basic science studies of neurodegenerative disease to clinical trials of novel interventions and biomarkers. It has a track-record of internationally important dementia discoveries with a particular research focus on Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body disorders, neuropsychiatric symptoms in neurodegenerative disease and the use of digital technologies in dementia assessment and care.
King's Health Partners (KHP)
Neurology at King’s Health Partners is truly translational, with basic science at a world class university, award-winning clinician scientists at an NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, including 10 professors, and a regional neuroscience centre boasting 38 neurospecialists including neuroradiology, neurosurgery and neurophysiology. The research component will take place at the Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, which is based in the Maurice Wohl Clinical Neurosciences Institute, and is on the same campus as King's College Hospital. Major research interests include neurodegeneration (particularly Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia and related conditions such as motor neuron disease), movement disorders, epilepsy, neuro-oncology and stroke medicine. Multiple research techniques are available from laboratory projects to clinical trials, with a translational pathway emphasized both in the Biomedical Research Unit and at KHP. Previous fellows have completed projects in pathology, genetics, cell biology, Next Generation sequencing and RNA profiling.
South London and Maudsley (SLAM)
The South London and Maudsley Specialist Training Scheme is one of the largest in the UK with over 80 different placements across South London. It has a longstanding reputation for being a leading UK training scheme that in partnership with the university department, has helped train a cadre of the UK's leading clinical academics in the speciality. The close links between academic and clinical departments enable trainees to undertake a wide range of research into all areas of Mental Health and to link clinical training needs closely to areas of academic interest. We have accommodated both ACFs and CLs in our clinical training programmes for General Adult Psychiatry, Old Age Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Forensic Psychiatry.
Every neuro-subspecialty is well represented within the King’s Training Scheme with placements in hospitals across South London and Kent. Trainees have the opportunity to take part in general and specialist clinics in epilepsy, movement disorders, neuromuscular disease, motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, Huntington’s disease, and others. Ward work is team based with multiple specialities represented on each team. Trainees spend time focussing on each speciality and therefore experience a wide range of neurology. Clinics are consultant led, so that trainees have immediate feedback on performance, and a strong Academic Tutor programme ensures that training competencies are achieved and recorded appropriately. On-call work is done by shift system and consultant supervised, so that trainees are exposed to acute neurology diagnosis and management, including stroke thrombolysis. The existing structure allows three, four or six-month blocks of protected time for research. Neurology is traditionally a very academic speciality and clinical training is closely linked to academic areas of interest within clinical and basic neuroscience. The training integrates every grade of trainee from Academic Foundation, through ACF, CL and research council fellowships.