Global Mental Health Practicum

Postgraduate course

Course description

Objectives and Content

Experience, develop understanding of, and reflect critically on professional/academic practice, through observation of the daily operations and interaction with health care providers and NGO¿s in an international setting. The goal and focus of the subject is inspired by the UN sustainable development goals.

The student will take part in different learning experiences and perform duties agreed to in an Internship Agreement. During the internship period, UiB faculty at will follow up students through weekly digital meetings. In addition students will have regular meetings with the internship mentor at the host institution. These consultations will provide space for discussions about the student's experience, and the institution's experience with the student.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this course the students should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge:

The student has:

  • In depth knowledge of professional etiquette and culture
  • In depth knowledge of how to research the background, mission and activities of an organization one has newly joined

Skills:

The student has the ability to:

  • Clarify his or her one's commitment to professional/academic work life and motivation for work in an international organization
  • Set one's own learning outcomes, to be mastered through the internship (in addition to those listed here)
  • Apply academic knowledge in a professional setting to solve real-world problems
  • Set professional development goals in collaboration with superiors
  • Evaluate one's own performance and set improvement goals
  • Give constructive and culture sensitive feedback to colleagues on one's work experience
  • Relate effectively to persons with a different cultural or educational background on different levels in an organization¿s structure
  • Communicate within and outside a professional organization in a manner in keeping with the organizations mission and values

General competence:

By the end of the course the student has:

  • The ability to enhance one's own professional competency based on reflection over self-assessed and mentor-assessed performance
  • The ability to be a good team player
  • The ability to make professional commitments and adhere to them

ECTS Credits

20 ECTS

Level of Study

Master

Semester of Instruction

Autumn

Place of Instruction

A limited number of international internship locations will be available. The internship locations will be approved by UiB and carefully selected by the partner institutions (NGO, university, private or public organizations).
Required Previous Knowledge
Completion of at least two years of education in psychology or related area.
Successfully completed the 10 ECTS course PSY380 Introduction to Global Mental Health.
Access to the Course
Access is limited to students from the clinical psychology program at UiB. If an institutional agreement is in place, students from other programs may also be invited to apply. The locations for internship will be pre-chosen by the course administration and will be designed to each student by the course administrator. Prospective students must submit the given application form including: a) motivation letter in English, b) curriculum vitae and c) Transcript of records from UiB.
Teaching and learning methods
A compulsory pre-departure seminar will address administrative, practical and professional issues. In order to facilitate learning and shared experiences at least two students will share the same practicum location. The practicum period of about 6-8 weeks will provide a hands-on experience from working in a professional setting. Lectures or other classroom teaching activities during practicum will be limited. After the practicum period, students will have a 2-3 week period to prepare their field report and oral presentation.
Compulsory Assignments and Attendance
The student must complete the requirements of the internship Agreement and the internship mentor at the host institution must confirm that this is done.
Forms of Assessment

The assessment will consist of an internship report and an oral presentation.

The internship report should be about 3000 words (+/- 10%) including tables and references. The report should provide a brief overview of the practicum experience and in more detail discuss the most important learning outcomes including the selfestablished outcomes with reference to relevant literature.

The oral presentation will take part for fellow students and teaching staff. The presentation is expected to last about 20 minutes followed by 5-10 minutes of questions and/or discussion. The timeframe could be increased if two or more students present together. The oral presentations should aim to present, discuss and reflect on professional aspects and learning outcomes from the practicum experience.

Grading Scale

Pass or fail

(Both the internship summary and oral presentation must be completed)

Reading List
About 800 pages self-directed
Course Evaluation
The course will be evaluated in accordance with the Faculty of Psycholoy's routines for participatory evaluation and the University of Bergen Quality Assurance System.
Course Coordinator
Centre for crisis psychology, Faculty of Psychology