Women's Mental Health: Course 3 - Perinatal - PDM1212

The Perinatal short course is the third of the three Women's Mental Health Online Short Courses offered by the HER Centre.

The perinatal phase is an important stage of life for both mother and child, but also a time with increased susceptibility to experiencing mental illness, either as a relapse of a pre existing illness, or as an onset of a mental illness for the first time. Depression is the most common form of perinatal mental illness, but other conditions such as postpartum psychosis and other mood disorders can also present during this time.

The Perinatal course provides a comprehensive overview of the range of mental illnesses that women can experience during this phase, as well as understandings of the aetiology and underlying pathophysiology associated with them. This course also provides a detailed review and presentation of the most effective treatments and management strategies to help women recover and minimise impacts on mother-child bonding, as well as methods to better pursue treatment goals of supporting a mother's capacity to parent effectively and function in their daily lives.

This course is developed by HER Centre Australia, Monash University. HER Centre Australia is uniquely dedicated to specifically understanding and advocating for women’s mental health, using the expertise of its clinicians and researchers to help develop world-first gender-tailored innovative treatments and interventions.

At a glance

Fees

A$273.90

Bundles:

  • Single Standard Course - A$273.90
  • Two Standard Courses - A$246.51
  • Three Standard Courses - A$219.12

Who should attend

This program is part of a series of three online, self-paced short courses focused on key mental health challenges unique to women during adolescence, midlife, and the perinatal period, particularly useful for health professionals including GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists, obstetricians,  gynecologists, and students in health fields.

What you will learn

  • Understand how hormonal and life-stage changes impact mental health in women.
  • Recognise and respond to gender-specific risk factors such as trauma and family violence.
  • Develop tailored care strategies based on clinical scenarios.

Program structure

The program is designed to give you the flexibility to move through it at your own pace. It should take approximately 7 hours to complete. The program content includes various methods including:

  • Self-paced video lectures
  • Interactive activities and quizzes
  • Real-life case studies
  • Downloadable resources

Accreditation

Each course (Adolescence, Midlife or Perinatal) is accredited for 5.0 continuing professional development (CPD) hours by RANZCP, RANZCOG, and RACGP. This CPD activity has also been approved by the Australian Psychological Society (APS) for 5.0 hours (per course).

RANZCOG

Accredited for 5.0 CPD hours per course by the The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

  

Accredited for 5.0 CPD hours per course by the The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists

  
CPD 2024-25

This CPD activity has been approved by the Australian Psychological Society (APS) for 5.0 hours (per course).

 
   
RACGP 

Accredited for 5.0 CPD hours per course by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

Jayashri Kulkarni

Professor Jayashri Kulkarni AM

Course Convenor

Director, HER Centre Australia

Professor Jayashri Kulkarni AM is a Professor of Psychiatry and Head of Department for the Department of Psychiatry (CCS) and Director of HER Centre Australia. She is internationally recognised for her expertise in Women’s mental health and the treatment of mental illness, and is a passionate advocate for patient-focused mental health research.

Professor Kulkarni graduated from Monash Medical School in 1981, became a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists in 1989, and was awarded a PhD from Monash University in 1997 for her thesis 'Women and Psychosis'. After working as  a  postdoctoral research fellow at the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria and the Early Psychosis Centre, Melbourne Australia, Professor Kulkarni worked as Director of Dandenong Psychiatry from 1994 to 2002.

In 2002, Professor Kulkarni was appointed Professor of Psychiatry at the Alfred Hospital and founded the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc). The aim of the research centre, encapsulated in its catchphrase “We Mend Minds”, is to develop new treatments, new understanding  and new service deliveries for people with mental illness. In 2022 Professor Kulkarni founded HER Centre Australia, a Monash University-endorsed research centre that has fast established itself as a leading source of advocacy, education and research in the field of women's mental health.

Professor Kulkarni is internationally and nationally renowned for her research in women’s mental health, in particular pioneering the use of estrogen as a new treatment in schizophrenia. She has studied many new treatments including tamoxifen treatment for bipolar disorder, tibolone treatment for depression, raloxifene treatment for schizophrenia, and memantine for borderline personality disorder. Professor Kulkarni’s research efforts over the last 20 years have contributed to improved global understandings of women’s mental health and illness, and has also served to inform and improve clinical practice.

Rotstein

Dr Sarah Rotstein

Sarah Rotstein is a consultant psychiatrist working in private practice, and formerly the Curriculum and Assessment Co-Lead for Psychiatry Teaching at Department of Psychiatry (CCS). Sarah has a strong passion for women’s mental health, doctor’s mental health, medical education and advocacy, and was instrumental in helping to develop the Women’s Mental Health short courses on offer here.

Thew

Dr Caroline Thew

Caroline Thew is a specialist endocrinologist, having formerly held the role at HER Centre Australia's Women’s Mental Health Clinic, as well as having her own clinical practice. Her research interests centre around type II diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome and increasingly around perimenopausal hormone management.

Gurvich

A/Prof Caroline Gurvich

Caroline Gurvich is a clinical neuropsychologist and Deputy Director of HER Centre Australia, where she also serves as Head of the Cognition and Hormones Group. Caroline is a dedicated supervisor to students and clinicians and is also passionate about gender equity in science.

BreadonDr Carolyn Breadon

Carolyn Breadon is a former Senior Academic Psychiatrist at HER Centre Australia. Her research interests focus on hormonal and other biological influences on mood and psychosis in pregnancy and the postpartum.

Shalini

A/Prof Shalini Arunogiri

Shalini Arunogiri is a clinical addiction psychiatrist, Clinical Director of Turning Point's Statewide Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and Senior Lecturer and researcher at Monash University. Shalini is passionate about delivering better care for people with addictions and related mental health problems, and for their families and communities.

If you'd like to find out more about this program, or any of the related programs please get in touch with our team hercentre-wmhshortcourse@monash.edu.