The RANZCP Section of Early Career Psychiatrists (SECP) was established as a forum to provide bi-directional communication between the RANZCP and Fellows who are in the early stages of their psychiatric careers.

The SECP hopes to offer information and topics of special interest to psychiatrists launching their professional careers. 

Membership of the SECP is automatic and includes all fellows who have been admitted to Fellowship in the last five years.

Aims

The SECP aims to identify and address issues concerning Early Career Psychiatrists (ECPs) in an attempt to enhance their experiences and to promote career development. 

The Committee works to fulfil the following aims: 

  1. To help identify and represent the interests of ECPs locally, regionally, and bi-nationally
  2. To contribute to the design of activities and educational endeavours of the RANZCP as they relate to the professional development of ECPs
  3. To facilitate participation of ECPs within the membership and leadership of the RANZCP.

Committee

The Chair of the SECP bi-national committee for the 2021-2024 term is Dr Edward Mullen.

Dr Aniket BansodMember, QLD RepresentativeSECP.QLD@ranzcp.org
Dr David O’MahonyMember, NT RepresentativeSECP.NT@ranzcp.org
Dr Melissa RenzenbrinkMember, NSW RepresentativeSECP.NSW@ranzcp.org
Dr Jacqueline RakovMember, SA RepresentativeSECP.SA@ranzcp.org
Dr Vijay DanivasMember, VIC RepresentativeSECP.VIC@ranzcp.org
Dr Rebecca GrahamMember, TAS RepresentativeSECP.Tas@ranzcp.org
Dr Killian AsheMember, ACT RepresentativeSECP.ACT@ranzcp.org
Dr Natalie Shulman    Member, WA RepresentativeSECP.WA@ranzcp.org
Dr Ramyadarshni Vadivel Member, NZ RepresentativeSECP.NZ@ranzcp.org


Individual members can be contacted via the above e-mail addresses or via memberhelp@ranzcp.org.

The Bi-national Section Committee's Regulations outline the purpose and responsibilities of the SECP Committee.

Membership

Membership of the SECP is automatic for Fellows who are in their first five years of RANZCP Fellowship.

If you wish, you can opt out of the Section via My RANZCP [Member login required]

For further information on membership, please email memberhelp@ranzcp.org.

Awards

In order to encourage and promote research in psychiatry in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, the Section supports the RANZCP Early Career Psychiatrist Award.

Applications are open 1 September–31 October each year.

Further information can be found under RANZCP awards.

Information and resources

Recordings of previous SECP events

Follow my lead: emerging into leadership as an early career psychiatrist

Speakers: Dr Lyn Chiem, Dr Hannah Lake, Dr Vijay Danivas and Professor Steve Moylan

An excellent panel of speakers presented insights into their experiences, challenges, and lessons learnt during their journey as early career leaders.

Get smart about your money and stay financially fit

Speakers: Mr Raghu Vettam, CFP, Way2Wealth Advisers Pty Ltd

Early career psychiatrists often find themselves with money in hand but lack of awareness and information regarding options on how to use this money. Many ECPs unaware of importance of financial planning to secure their futures. Most of us have questions that need answers from experts. This session was a brief presentation (30 minutes) followed by Q & A session (up to 90 minutes), delivered by a Certified Financial Planner with years of experience guiding doctors towards financial security.

Learning objectives were: 
1. Understand the importance of financial planning 
2. Learn how to secure financial future by learning investment strategies 
3. Recognise the value of right advice at the right time and the role of a CFP in early career stages

World Psychiatric Association Early Career Psychiatrists (WPA ECP)

The RANZCP SECP has a close working relationship with the WPA ECP, an international network of ECP associations. Providing a platform for sharing ideas and promoting training opportunities across the globe, funded fellowships and scholarships for ECPs to promote their work at international conferences are also available.

Becoming a member of the WPA ECP Section opens the door to potentially rich professional relationships where one might visit and get to know another country's mental health service or collaborate in a multicentre research opportunity. Visit the WPA ECP website for details on becoming a member, and to access the WPA ECP Quarterly Newsletter containing ECP contributions from around the world.

Psychiatric Times

Psychiatric Times is a good site with free membership and information relevant to ECPs.

If you know of any other information, websites or forums that would be relevant to ECPs, please contact memberhelp@ranzcp.org and let us know.  

Have your say

We would love to hear from you. Send us a comment, compliment, complaint or any form of feedback to help us make this page more interesting and relevant.  

Please email memberhelp@ranzcp.org.