HETI Awards in Psychiatry and Mental Health
Case study
Fostering a specialised mental health workforce in NSW
The Health Education and Training Institute (HETI) Awards in Psychiatry and Mental Health strengthen workforce capacity in NSW, which leads the way in the development of sub-specialty training in the mental health sector.
Professor Julian Trollor, Chair, Intellectual Disability Mental Health; Head, Department of Developmental Disability and Neuropsychiatry; Professor, School of Psychiatry University of NSW Medicine. NSWIOP Training Fellowship in Neuropsychiatry from 1995 – 1997.
As a past Fellow and current mentor and supervisor, Professor Julian Trollor UNSW, understands the benefits the Health Education and Training Institute (HETI) Awards in Psychiatry and Mental Health can deliver to both recipients and the broader mental health sector.
Previously known as the NSWIOP Fellowships, the program has become the HETI Awards in Psychiatry and Mental Health. The 2019-2020 HETI Awards in Psychiatry and Mental Health are fully funded and give recipients the opportunity to take part in specialty training or research to develop new skills in an area otherwise not possible without the provision of the program.
“My first Fellowship allowed me to complete in-depth training in neuropsychiatry, an area for which there wasn’t a defined training path.
“The unique skills and insights I gained in my sub-specialty gave me the competitive edge to enter a highly-respected position at quite an early stage in my career,” Professor Trollor said.
Professor Trollor was subsequently awarded a second-year half-time Fellowship which enabled him to participate in a highly specialised brain imaging study, investigating the episodic memory function of people experiencing cognitive decline.
“The HETI Awards in Psychiatry and Mental Health give practitioners the opportunity to tailor a learning program to their needs, giving them access to a range of supervisors and experiences that can build a future career path,” Professor Trollor said.
“It is a rare and extraordinary opportunity for practitioners to enhance both their specialty and career, applicants need to take advantage of it.”
In addition to strengthening the career prospects of recipients of the HETI Awards in Psychiatry and Mental Health, Professor Trollor describes the program as having an immense impact on the field of mental health, particularly in the training of future psychiatrists in intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) psychiatry.
“The oversight of the Awards by HETI strengthens the IDD psychiatry workforce capacity in NSW, which leads the way in the development of sub-specialty training in the mental health sector.”
“The Fellowships, and now the HETI Awards in Psychiatry and Mental Health, have made an enormous contribution to the mental health sector,” he said.
Key benefits
- Specialist training and research
- Make a contribution to the Mental Health sector
- Fully funded