Overview
Psychological Medicine
Psychological Medicine has been involved in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illness and emotional problems. Due to their medical training, the psychiatrist understands the body’s functions and the complex relationship
between emotional illness and other medical illness. Thus the psychiatrist is the mental health professional and physician, best qualified to distinguish between physical and psychological causes of both psychological and physical
distress.
The medical specialty of psychological medicine, utilizes research in the field of neurosciences, psychology, medicine, biology, biochemistry and pharmacology. It has hence been considered a middle ground between neurology and psychology.
Unlike other physicians and neurologists, specialists in psychological medicine have added expertise, to varying extents in the use of psychotherapy and other therapeutic communication techniques.
Psychological Health of Human Capital in Organisations
Psychological Health of Human Capital in Organisations can be impacted by the work place and beyond. Poor psychological health, results in poor outcomes to the bottom line of both the human capital and the organisation. The studies
on demoralisation on human capital of organisations, found it resulted in psychopathological sequelae. Similarly studies in embitterment in the work place have found to result in psychopathological Embitterment post-traumatic stress
disorder.
Work place related psychiatric pathology impacts on organisational outcomes and among other issues also results in poor retention and attraction of human capital. These affect negatively, the important management need of good talent
management for increased production of goods and or services. This lead to the initiation of The defined branch of Organisational Psychological Medicine, which includes psychiatrists, with added qualifications and experience in
management and administration, who are interested and involved in researching, studying the workplace related psychological and psychiatric pathology.
This branch of psychological medicine’s scope of practice expands from the diagnosis and management of workplace related psychological disorders to added forte of preventive psychological medicine and resilience and positive psychological
medicine applied to the human capital of organisations. These include population health initiatives of developing programs that will enhance the outcomes of human capital of organisations. Thus the discipline benefits the bottom
line of both, the individual and the organisation.
The International Institute of Organisational Psychological Medicine
The International Institute of Organisational Psychological Medicine was initiated in Australia and USA by psychiatrists working in this division of psychiatry, and working in collaboration with professionals involved with good organisational
outcomes. These professionals include psychology, senior management and administrators.
The scope and the education programs relate to the important need to achieving sustainable human capital for the organisation. These include early identification, diagnosing and managing psychopathological sequelae, resulting from the
workplace and beyond, preventing psychopathologies resulting from workplace practices and standards. The added inclusion to the scope is the paradigm shift -the enhancing of human capital potential using holistic principals; resilience
and positive psychological medicine. Thus besides principals of positive psychological medicine the added coordinated use of neurosciences, dynamic psychological and management underpinnings, cognitive medicine, and spiritual philosophy
in programs will offer resilience and enhancement of the potential of human capital of an organisation.
The academic and curriculum committee of the IIOPM have developed pathways that lead to certification of competencies in the discipline of organisational psychological medicine and human capital management. This certification will enable
membership and the use of post-nominals of the IIOPM. The Institute has in collaboration with Universities of management developed and included post-graduate electives in organisational psychological medicine, based human capital management,
in the Master in Business Management and Master of Business Administration courses. The program offers psychological medicine underpinnings and knowledge for sophisticated human capital management for senior management executives.
This will enable identifying, preventing, increasing resilience and enhancing the potential of the human capital in the organisations that they manage.