Diploma in Psychological Medicine
News amd Notes
In the Regulations for the Diploma, the University of London has recognised the wider scope which the Mental Treatment Act has given to the practice of psychological medicine, and the increasing need for a correspond- ingly wide experience on the part of those who are taking up this branch of work. The new Regulations also emphasised in effect the close relationship of all forms of mental abnormality. As at present in force, the regulations require that the candidate shall have held a resident post or attended for a longer period daily at an Institution (or Institutions) for Mental Diseases (Psychiatry) or Mental Deficiency. In and after 1935 the Regulations will require that such institutional practice in one particular branch must be sup- plemented by further general practical experience.
In addition, the candidate shall have attended for not less than 26 full mornings or afternoons, the practice of approved institutions, hospitals, clinics or other establishments in each of the following subjects (a total of 104 attend- ances), namely: ?
(a) Mental Disorders (in the case of a candidate whose experience under 1 has been in an institution for Mental Defectives.) (b) Mental Deficiency (in the case of a candidate whose experience under 1 has been in an institution for Mental Disorders.) (c) Neurology. (d) Psychoneuroses and early Psychoses. (e) Mental Retardation and Delinquency.
Vocational Guidance
The Report of the Ministry of Labour for 1932 (Cmd. 4281, 1933) refers to an investigation which is to be undertaken by the National Advisory Coun- cils of England and Wales and Scotland into the present systems of vocational guidance as practised here and in other countries. The increasing use of the National Institute of Industrial Psychology, focuses attention from time to time on this subject, and those who are specially interested in the mentally retarded child at school, realise all too painfully how difficult it is to find the right niche in the world’s work for such a boy or girl.
As everyone is aware, it is, however, sometimes necessary to create special conditions for the employment of Mental Defectives, and the new develop- ment referred to in the succeeding paragraph is an example. Leeds Voluntary Mental Welfare Committee. Pioneer Laundry and Women’s Welfare Centre.
This Laundry has been established on lines similar to the Leeds Employ- ment Centres for men, and is for the training and employment of feeble- minded women, under the supervision of the Local Authority, who are either unemployed or not capable of work in the ordinary labour market. It is a steam laundry with hydro-extractor, driers, calender and collar machine, but there are no washing machines, and it is claimed that the work, which is charged at trade prices is equal in quality to that of any other laundry in the City, with the advantage that it is hand work and not subject to the wear and tear of machinery.
There is accommodation, according to the Factory and Workshops’ Regulations, for over 100 workers. A staff of normal workers is employed, and the trainees are paid wages according to the number of hours worked and the age and efficiency of the trainee, the wages varying from 7/6 to 22/- per week.
The Laundry is under the management of the Voluntary Committee. The Committee has had before it for some years the problem of finding work and keeping under supervision feeble-minded girls and women. As they leave the Occupation Centres and Special Schools, it is intended that they shall be transferred to the Laundry to work under protective conditions and to become self-supporting. Thus the Committee hope to do for the women what has been done with so much success for the men in the tailoring, wood-working, boot-repairing, rug-making and fire-wood shops in Leeds.
The cost of altering the premises and of the machinery was about ^1,600. Six years ago the Voluntary Committee held a Flag Day for this particular purpose and ^700 has accumulated towards the cost: there have been other voluntary funds and a grant from the Ministry of Health.
Mental Hygiene Conference
The National Council for Mental Hygiene are holding their third biennial conference at Caxton Hall, Westminster, from November 22nd to 24th. The subjects for discussion are varied, and among the titles for the Sessions are: ” The working of the Mental Treatment Act,” ” Suicide and Society,” ” The medical attitude to crime.” The full programme and the names of speakers will be announced later, and the papers given at the Conference will appear in the 1934 issues of ” Mental Hygiene,” which will be published as a quarterly.
Institute of Medical Psychology
A Course of Training in the Children’s Department, for students holding a degree or diploma in Psychology, is to begin at the Institute in October, and to extend over a University year (part-time). The fee is to be 30 guineas, and the work will include lectures and practical work in all branches of child guidance. Further particulars can be obtained from the Hon. Lecture Secre- tary, 6, Torrington Place, W.C.i.
Ministry of Health Inquiry
It will be remembered that the Ray Committee in their Report, published in the autumn of 1932, drew special attention to the cost of public institutions, and following upon their recommendation, a Departmental Committee has this month been appointed by the Ministry to consider and report on the questions of capital cost of construction and the annual cost of maintenance of certain classes of public buildings provided by Local Authorities. Mental Hospitals and Mental Deficiency Institutions are of course included in the list. Sir L. Amherst Selby-Bigge is the Chairman.
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