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Ria Mathew
Ria Mathew
6th year medical student, James Cook University
Attending the PIF Retreat 2026 on Gadigal Country (Sydney) was an inspiring and affirming experience as someone with a deep interest in pursuing psychiatry. I came in already quite certain that psychiatry was the path I wanted to pursue, and the retreat took that certainty and gave it real depth and direction.
Psychiatry had always drawn me in for its complexity, but the retreat revealed just how much of the field I had yet to explore. Hearing from specialists across a wide range of subspecialties provided me with a richer sense of what a career in psychiatry can look like, and the one-on-one networking opportunities added another dimension, allowing for candid conversations about what drew people to their area of practice and what continues to make the work meaningful.
The session on philosophy and the foundations of psychiatric practice was one that genuinely challenged me. The discussion around psychiatry's unique position at the intersection of medicine and societal expectation, particularly the tension between therapeutic care and the role of social control, was something I had not anticipated engaging with so deeply. Similarly, the idea of grounding practice in phenomena rather than defaulting to diagnostic categories is something I want to carry forward into my own clinical thinking. Additionally, hearing about the breadth of research currently underway, including work already finding its way into Australian guidelines, created a sense of excitement about where the field is headed.
I am grateful and deeply moved by the lived experience perspective presented at the retreat, which offered an important kind of grounding, a reminder that people with mental illness continue to identify gaps that the profession needs to actively work to close.
Viscerally energising, even more so than the unlimited coffee provided at the retreat, was the opportunity to meet other medical students and junior doctors who are passionate about psychiatry. I left feeling hopeful about the people who will shape the future of mental health care in this country.
A heartfelt thank you to PIF and the RANZCP team for organising such a wonderful event and for making this opportunity possible!
Attending the PIF Retreat 2026 on Gadigal Country (Sydney) was an inspiring and affirming experience as someone with a deep interest in pursuing psychiatry. I came in already quite certain that psychiatry was the path I wanted to pursue, and the retreat took that certainty and gave it real depth and direction.
Psychiatry had always drawn me in for its complexity, but the retreat revealed just how much of the field I had yet to explore. Hearing from specialists across a wide range of subspecialties provided me with a richer sense of what a career in psychiatry can look like, and the one-on-one networking opportunities added another dimension, allowing for candid conversations about what drew people to their area of practice and what continues to make the work meaningful.
The session on philosophy and the foundations of psychiatric practice was one that genuinely challenged me. The discussion around psychiatry's unique position at the intersection of medicine and societal expectation, particularly the tension between therapeutic care and the role of social control, was something I had not anticipated engaging with so deeply. Similarly, the idea of grounding practice in phenomena rather than defaulting to diagnostic categories is something I want to carry forward into my own clinical thinking. Additionally, hearing about the breadth of research currently underway, including work already finding its way into Australian guidelines, created a sense of excitement about where the field is headed.
I am grateful and deeply moved by the lived experience perspective presented at the retreat, which offered an important kind of grounding, a reminder that people with mental illness continue to identify gaps that the profession needs to actively work to close.
Viscerally energising, even more so than the unlimited coffee provided at the retreat, was the opportunity to meet other medical students and junior doctors who are passionate about psychiatry. I left feeling hopeful about the people who will shape the future of mental health care in this country.
A heartfelt thank you to PIF and the RANZCP team for organising such a wonderful event and for making this opportunity possible!
