Course Description

This online Masterclass is brought to you by Our Curious Minds in conjunction with Psychwrite. It was developed by two senior Medical Negligence Lawyers from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers and two Forensic Psychiatrists with experience in providing opinions on psychiatric negligence. 

Every year in Australia, approximately 1 in 8 psychiatrists have claims raised about the standard of their care provision. Despite this, psychiatrists’ understanding of the relevant medicolegal landscape is often limited, and unhelpful myths regarding legal liability are commonplace. Unfortunately, this can result in needless exposure to medicolegal risk.     

In this 6 hour Masterclass, available to watch on-demand at your leisure, you will learn  pragmatic approaches to risk management and enhanced decision-making, which will in turn improve the standard of care given to patients, and greatly reduce your exposure to legal liability in the event of adverse outcomes.  

 In the Masterclass, the expert panel:

  • Considers relevant legislation and demystifies key concepts including ‘duty of care’ and ‘standard of care.’
  • Outlines common pitfalls at decision-making points in care pathways that most commonly expose Consultant Psychiatrists to medicolegal risk.
  • Discusses the values and dangers of ‘therapeutic risk-taking’ in the context of Recovery-oriented mental health care.
  • Describes how application of the findings research in judgement and decision-making facilitates “good-enough,” medicolegally robust clinical care.
  • Clarifies the distinction between ‘defensive’ and ‘defensible’ practice, with special reference to documentation in the context of risk.
  • Makes extensive use of real-world cases to illustrate the key learning points


The online Masterclass uses recordings from the highly acclaimed webinar ‘Beyond the Tickbox’, reconfigured for on-demand online viewing. Registrants will receive:

  • Access to the online Masterclass for 6 months from date of registration, watchable on any device (including smartphones and tablets)
  • a pdf copy of all of the slides used by presenters
  • A Certificate of Attendance for CPD purposes
  • A Resource Booklet with recommended reading, links to cases and to online resources
  • FREE access to the 90-minute online course ‘Working with Relevant Evidence’ (developed for Australian mental health professionals by Andrew Carroll in conjunction with ‘Our Curious Minds’) that outlines key skills and knowledge required when managing risk in the context of mental health.


6 hours  :  3 presenters

$749 (inc. GST) for psychiatrists

$350 (inc. GST) for psychiatric trainees (add the discount code TRAINEE at checkout)

No-quibble full money back guarantee if not fully satisfied

Testimonials

from attendees at the live webinar version

  • Dr Ayo Ogunleye, Perinatal and General Psychiatrist, Victoria

    “‘Beyond the Tickbox’ is a must attend medicolegal Masterclass for all psychiatrists practicing across both the private and public sector. The presenters brought a detailed but balanced discussion on the intersection of psychiatric care and the law. The diverse case examples provided a heuristic component that brought the concepts together. An absolutely, well spent day!”

  • Dr Jessica Green, General and CBT Psychiatrist, Victoria

    “This workshop was well delivered, engaging and on point. I wish I had this teaching earlier. In particular, the case studies and advice around documentation were extremely useful and will change my practice now.”

  • Dr Rosaria Forlano, Psychiatrist

    "Beyond the tick box delivered what it promised.- it was a helpful interesting half day program that addressed medico legal risks encountered in day to day psychiatric practice. The webinar lead the participants through the process of considered , reflective discussion making - I was particularly taken by the idea of “slow thinking” and the reminders to be aware of the pressures of “group think”. The reading materials provided, including clinical cases added to the presentations and increased clinical relevance of the sessions. Questions from the participants were answered thoughtfully and very helpfully. I would recommend this masterclass to all colleagues!"

  • Dr Karishma Kulkarni, General Psychiatrist, Victoria

    “Excellent resource for psychiatrists who are keen to learn about the nuances of medicolegal aspects of good psychiatric practice beyond routine risk assessments.”

  • Dr Angela Anson, Perinatal and General Psychiatrist, Queensland

    “I found the course refreshing in its pragmatic and articulate approach to real world problems (resource limitations, pressures on high stakes decision making, how to be reflective in one’s practice and convey this in one’s documentation “on the run”) whilst being kind to both patients and their families, and clinicians, in response to adverse outcomes.”

  • Dr Ben Gornall, Old Age Psychiatrist, Victoria

    “The knowledgeable presenters were able to draw on their wealth of experience and helped to demystify the complex world of medical negligence and medico-legal risk. I have taken away some learnings that are already changing my practice for the better.”

  • Dr Lior Chait, General Psychiatrist, Victoria

    “An excellent masterclass that covered common medicolegal pitfalls relevant to practicing psychiatry in both public and private settings.”

  • Dr Kimberley Adler, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Victoria

    “An excellent and invaluable course for all practicing psychiatrists! Really made me think more carefully about how I practice. Definitely recommend!”

  • Dr Tom Klug, CAP trainee

    “This masterclass surpassed my expectations in every way. The information was presented effectively, and case studies and the panel discussion brought the information vividly to life and made it relevant to my everyday practice. I particularly enjoyed finding out about how cognitive biases lead to poor patient care and increased risk for patients and clinicians. I can already see how this course has positively impacted my practice at work - what higher praise could you have than that?”

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Lesson 1: Overview

  • 2

    Lesson 2: The Legal Framework

    • The Legal Framework

    • Lesson Slides

    • MCQs
  • 3

    Lesson 3 : Assessment

    • Assessment

    • Lesson Slides

    • MCQs
  • 4

    Lesson 4 : Analysis

    • ANALYSIS

    • Lesson Slides

    • MCQs
  • 5

    Lesson 5 : Action

    • ACTION

    • Slides

    • MCQs
  • 6

    Lesson 6 : Awareness

    • AWARENESS

    • Slides

    • MCQs
  • 7

    Lesson 7 : Question and Answer Session

    • QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

    • Resources Booklet

Instructors

Forensic Consultant Psychiatrist

Jacqueline Rakov

Jacqueline Rakov has worked in forensic psychiatry since 2015. She has held a variety of positions at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare), and currently works as a forensic psychiatrist at Monash Health, and in private clinical and forensic practice. Jackie provides expert evidence in both criminal and civil jurisdictions, often providing opinions regarding questions around ‘standard of care.’ She is also a qualified impairment assessor using the GEPIC methodology. Jackie studied medicine at Monash University. She undertook her clinical specialty training in psychiatry at The Alfred Hospital, concurrently completing a Masters of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne. Following her general training, she undertook sub-specialty Advanced Training in forensic psychiatry, completing studies in Forensic Behavioural Sciences. Jackie has also completed a Master of Health Professions Education and regularly teaches medical students and trainee psychiatrists, as well as providing CPD to members of the legal profession on a voluntary basis. Jackie is an Accredited Member of the RANZCP Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry and is currently the Victoria Legal Aid-liaison to its Victorian Subcommittee. She is also a committee member for of the Bi-national Section of Early Career Psychiatrists.

Forensic Consultant Psychiatrist

Andrew Carroll

Andrew is a forensic psychiatrist who has worked in public mental health for over 25 years in both Australia and the UK. He has extensive experience working in a range of services including inpatient units, crisis teams, community teams and prison clinics. He worked for 6 years on a rehabilitation unit at the high secure Thomas Embling Hospital in Melbourne. Currently, he works as the visiting psychiatrist to a large men’s prison in Victoria. He also has a busy private practice, which involves forensic assessment work for various agencies including Victoria Legal Aid, the Drug Court, the Office of Public Prosecutions, MACNI (the Multiple and Complex Needs Initiative), Department of Health and Human Services (Victoria) and the TAC. He regularly provides expert medicolegal opinions for private law firms, including opinions regarding ‘standard of care’ in the context of claims of negligence against mental health services. He has published extensively in the field of risk assessment, forensic mental health service provision, clinical decision-making and violence. He previously held the role of Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychiatry at Monash University and is now an Associate Professor (Adjunct) at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University of Technology. He also holds an honorary role at the University of Melbourne Department of Psychiatry.

Principal Lawyer, Maurice Blackburn

Emily Hart

Emily Hart is a Principal Lawyer in Maurice Blackburn’s medical negligence department in Melbourne, where she has been practicing exclusively in medical negligence matters for ten years. She represents families and patients across a range of health law matters, with a particular interest in obstetrics, mental health and Coronial matters. Emily also helped establish the HeLP Patient Legal Clinic at the Alfred Hospital – a health justice partnership with Alfred Health, Monash University and Maurice Blackburn Lawyers. The clinic has been in operation since 2014. She leads a team of lawyers who assist patients and their families with legal issues that arise in association with their health problems. In this context Emily has gained a unique perspective on health law and end of life planning and decision making. Emily graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Arts and Honours in Law in 2007. She is also a a Law Institute of Victoria personal injury accredited specialist, a member of the Law Institute of Victoria’s Health Law Committee, the Medico-Legal Society of Victoria, and the former chair of the Victorian Women Lawyers Law Reform Committee.