Child Mental Health Community of Practice session 6: Gender diversity

The child mental health community of practice (CoP) is part of the Victorian Public Healthcare Award-winning ‘connecting mental health paediatric specialists and community services (COMPASS)' project. It is a multidisciplinary CoP for GPs, practice nurses, psychologists, paediatricians, mental health clinicians, social workers and counsellors.

The CoP improves the capacity of clinicians assessing and managing mental health problems in children and adolescents. Over 7 sessions, facilitated by local GP Dr Sahar Iqbal, participants will examine case studies presented by child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Chidambaram Prakash from the Royal Children’s Hospital. Each monthly session will focus on a topic of interest. Sessions will be held online using Zoom on Tuesday evenings, from 6:30pm to 8pm. 

The topic for session 6 is gender diversity. 2.3 to 3.7 per cent of Australian young people identify as trans or gender diverse. They experience high rates of social exclusion, discrimination, harassment and abuse, and have high rates of mental illness. This session will start with a thorough overview of gender identity, and then focus on how to support trans young people and their families to improve mental health outcomes.

This is the fourth time this successful CoP has been run. This series will include all new case studies.

1.5 EA RACGP continuing professional development (CPD) hours are available for attending GPs.  

Don't miss the final session in the series:

Session 7: Oct 29, 2024 6:30 PM – PTSD/Complex PTSD

For any queries, please contact education@nwmphn.org.au

Speakers

Dr Chidambaram Prakash is a senior consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the RCH. He has over 20 years’ experience. 

Prakash has worked in, and managed, general and specialist clinics within child psychiatry in metropolitan and regional public mental health services.  

Practising as a GP at Goonawarra Medical Centre for the past 10 years, Dr Sahar Iqbal's areas of interest are child and adolescent mental health and chronic disease management.

Guest Speaker

Dr Tram Nguyen is a psychiatrist and mental health lead at the RCH Gender Service. Tram has had a breadth of experience working with young people and their families. She is a strong advocate for those who are vulnerable and marginalised. She is excited and privileged by the opportunity to work with young gender diverse people and their families through their journey at the Gender Service.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Confidently assess and identify gender diversity in children and adolescents. 
• Discuss the best practice management for gender diversity in children and adolescents.
• Identify appropriate referral pathways in local region to support management of children and adolescents with gender diversity.