Curriculum for General Practice - The Royal New Zealand College ...

Mental Health
M
The following subtopics are essential but do not cover the entire scope of mental health conditions managed by the GP.
Depression
The GP will demonstrate the ability to:
• recognise, diagnose and assess severity of depression
in primary care particularly with at-risk groups
• offer patients the opportunity to be referred for group
therapy when and where appropriate
• discuss atypical presentations of depression
• reflect on the benefits and limitations of online therapy
and promote it when appropriate
• discuss and recommend non-pharmaceutical interventions
• manage postpartum psychosis as a rare but very
dangerous condition
• prescribe commonly used antidepressants, understand
their indications, benefits, risks and potential side effects
and how to initiate, follow up, monitor and discontinue
their use
• use situational and age-appropriate communication
and screening tools
• discuss the various biopsychosocial factors that increase
risk of depression in certain patient groups
• discuss the concerns around antidepressant use in
adolescents and alternative and more appropriate
treatment approaches, such as cognitive behavioural
therapy.
• elicit and diagnose post-natal depression and have
knowledge of safe and effective treatment modalities
Anxiety
The GP will demonstrate the ability to:
• recognise, diagnose and assess the spectrum of
anxiety disorder as for depression above
• discuss knowledge of indications, benefits, side effects
and risks of commonly prescribed anxiolytics, including
SSRIs, TCAs and benzodiazepines.
• understand the benefits and limitations of nonpharmaceutical
treatments, including awareness of some
online therapy sites
www.rnzcgp.org.nz
Curriculum for General Practice
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