Paper
Thursday, July 12, 2007
MHIRT (Minority Health International Research Training) Students at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London
Richard J. Gray, RN, BSc, MSc, PhD, Mental Health Nursing, King's College London, Institute of Psychaitry, London, United Kingdom
The Institute of Psychiatry provides post-graduate education and carries out research in psychiatry, psychology, and allied disciplines, including basic and clinical neurosciences. The Institute is world renowned for the quality of its research and it became a school of King's College in August 1997. We had two MHIRT (Minority Health International Research Training) students on placement from Florida International University in the section of mental health nursing at the Institute of Psychiatry from 7th September 2006 – 17th December 2006. They agreed three learning objectives for their placement that included describing and contrasting the British and American systems of health care, describing and reflecting on the health disparities they observed, and participating in each stage of the research process (literature reviewing, design, ethics, data collection and management, analysis and report writing). To enable them to achieve these objectives they worked on three research projects. The first the evaluation of a smoking cessation clinic for people with schizophrenia, the second a pilot study of medication adherence in people with mental illness in prisons and finally a survey of psychiatrists and mental health nurses views and attitudes about non-medical prescribing. Progress in achieving these objectives was monitored through weekly structured supervision with their mentor (Dr Richard Gray) and placement supervisors (Deborah Robson and Dan Bressington) and a journal kept throughout the placement reflecting on their progress towards achieving their learning objective. At the end of the placement the students particularly appreciated their practical experience of real world research projects that allowed them to apply their theoretical knowledge of research in practice. Faculty and student outcomes will be shared.