Medical student teaching in the private sector - An overlooked opportunity?

One in four psychiatric beds in Australia are located in the private sector, and more than half of Australian psychiatrists undertake private work. However, nearly all medical student teaching in psychiatry takes place in public hospitals. This paper explores the learning opportunities in the private sector. We report the South Australian experience; medical students have been taught in Ramsay Health Care (SA) Mental Health facilities for more than 23 years.

Our experience demonstrates that clinical teaching in private hospitals is sustainable and well accepted by students, patients and clinicians. The private sector has the capacity to make a much greater contribution to medical student training in psychiatry.