Mental Health Tertiary Curriculum Project

This project sought to develop this field by surveying the current provision of mental health training placements in rural Australia and use the findings to improve and shape the future direction of mental health clinical placements and to inform future tertiary curriculum development.

Currently rural mental health placements occur in a range of settings. Demand for placements is increasing resulting in competition for placement opportunities. Appropriate responses may include increasing available placements especially in new settings, effectively coordinating placement allocation and providing additional support to placements and supervisors. In addition the cost of rural placements needs to be adequately considered. Finally, the recognition of learning objectives that are particularly relevant to rural mental health care should be addressed. Informed by the findings of the project five key recommendations have been developed.