In the lead-up to the end of the year, several committees have had their final meetings, including the Trainee Advisory Committee (TAC), Bi-national Committee for Trainees (BCT) and the Members’ Advisory Council (MAC). 

The BCT meeting was an opportunity to hear progress related to issues previously raised by trainees and to think about the committees’ work leading into next year. 

From the BCT: 

Progress in understanding the issues related to the Psychotherapy Written Case was discussed; at the TAC, a group of trainees volunteered to commence work on developing a survey for trainees, supervisors, and Directors of Training (DOTs) to understand inequities and any other issues. So far, a letter has been sent to all Association of Psychiatry Trainees (APTs) to gather quantitative information about these issues, and a survey is in the drafting phase. We expect that this work will contribute to a more formal RANZCP process next year. 

The safety of trainees after hours in the Counties Manukau region was discussed. This issue has previously been raised at TAC, NZ Branch Training Committee (NZBTC) and has been noted by the Accreditation Committee (AC). There will be a special site visit to Counties Manukau by the NZBTC in April 2025. 

Another item of discussion was trainee voting rights. Currently, only Fellows of RANZCP can vote in elections for positions on the RANZCP Board. Voting rights for Affiliates and Associates (trainees are Associates) require constitutional change. The BCT have agreed to a proposed plan that looks at a vote to grant Affiliates the ability to vote in 2026 and another vote the following year to look at trainee voting rights. 

In NSW, significant numbers of Consultant Psychiatrists have tendered their resignation. Reassurance has been provided to trainees that their current rotation will not be affected, although many feel that there will be an impact on their work and education. We will be following any developments closely. 

Other discussion items included the use of AI in psychiatry and updates on digitising the modified essay questions (MEQ) and critical essay questions (CEQ), we are expecting an update early next year. While the CEQ is expected to be withdrawn and replaced by an alternative in the future, there is no current definitive replacement or timeline for this, and there will be no changes in the next year, so please continue to plan to sit your exams as if it is likely to continue.