Student wellbeing

Mental health is both an important public health issue and a personally relevant issue for medical students navigating the demands and complexities of their training. In the Beginnings, Growth and Development B course (BGDB, Phase 1 Medicine), the 'Teenage Mental Health' learning scenario provides a context for exploring mental health, risk and protective factors, regulating emotions, and non-pharmacological approaches to dealing with life's ups and downs. Supported by funding from the Inspired Learning Initiative, I lead a team to design and develop an evidence-based adaptive online tutorial on mental health and online cognitive behaviour therapy, with a storyline of a medical student. The team included Amanda Yeung (Pro-Vice Chancellor Education unit), Vicki Langendyk (UNSW Medicine), Martin Le Nedelec (School of Medical Sciences), with Hila Haskelberg and Stephanie Bradstock from the Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression (St Vincent’s Hospital), and Ute Vollmer-Conna (UNSW Medicine Student Wellbeing Advisor). This was a valuable exercise, that strengthened and extended the relationship between CRUfAD and Phase 1 Medicine, for sharing of resources and expertise, and for continued input to the lecture component of the BGDB course. The adaptive tutorial was delivered in a blended learning environment, where students individually completed the tutorial, with discussion of key questions between neighbouring students during the tutorial, and then a class discussion of the issues arising from the storyline, including the evidence for the effectiveness of online cognitive behaviour therapy and the stigma associated with mental illness. The intention was to create a safe and informed environment for the discussion of these issues, and Hila Haskelberg and Stephanie Bradstock from CRUfAD were present to facilitate the discussion.