Psychopharmacology [Psychiatry (Austin and Northern Health)]

Psychopharmacology refers to the study of the effects of drugs on behaviours, including emotional states and cognition. The honours programme is designed to introduce students to the discipline through advanced course work and a research project. It is primarily focused on psychiatric disorders through studies of the effects of medications in healthy volunteers, patients with mental illness and the use of animal models of illness.

At the end of the course students should have gained an insight into:

• contemporary understandings of the aetiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders;
• the mechanism of action of the major classes of psychotropic medications;
• the limitations and usefulness of animal models for studying psychiatric disorders;
• report writing and critical evaluation of relevant scientific literature;
• communication of science through oral presentation;
• on time management of the important phases of the research project: ethics approval, literature review, experiments, and report writing

The Honours program consists of 100 credit points completed over 12 months full time (or part time equivalent) comprising of two (2) Advanced Coursework subjects and a Research Project.

To be awarded Honours with a specialisation in Psychopharmacology [Psychiatry (Austin and Northern Health)], students must successfully complete the following subjects:

• BIOM40001 - Introduction to Biomedical Research (12.5 points)
• PSYT40007 - Psychopharmacology Coursework - AH / NH (12.5 points)
• PSYT40005 and PSYT40006 - Psychiatry Research Project (75 points)

There are no elective subjects in this Honours program.

Coursework Component

Students must complete 25 credit points of advanced coursework subjects. This is achieved by enrolling in the following subjects in the appropriate semesters.

Research Component

Students must complete a total of 75 credit points of research across the duration of the Honours program. This is achieved by enrolling in a combination of the following subjects in the appropriate semesters.