Iraqi Board Psychiatry study plan

Map the Iraqi Mental Health Act and relevant criminal-procedure provisions into a one-page decision tree covering involuntary admission, capacity, fitness to stand trial and criminal responsibility

List the four core ethics principles and apply each to two written vignettes on confidentiality breaches and consent in psychiatric care

Distinguish the positive, negative and disorganised symptom domains of schizophrenia and match each to a first-line antipsychotic rationale

Outline the dopamine, serotonin and glutamate hypotheses of psychosis and state one piece of supporting evidence for each

Describe the structure of community mental health services and the role of the primary-care gatekeeper in Iraq

Classify depressive and bipolar disorders by ICD-11 and DSM-5-TR criteria, stating the minimum symptom counts and duration thresholds from memory

Explain the monoamine, neuroendocrine (HPA axis) and chronobiological models of mood disorder and link each to a drug class

Compare antidepressant classes by mechanism, half-life, discontinuation syndrome risk and interaction profile

Construct a management sequence for treatment-resistant depression including augmentation and ECT indications

Differentiate bipolar I, bipolar II and cyclothymia using at least three discriminating features each

Trace the nigrostriatal, mesolimbic, mesocortical and tuberoinfundibular pathways and predict the side-effect profile of blocking each

Describe the pharmacokinetics of lithium, its therapeutic range, toxicity risk factors and monitoring schedule

Apply the ICD-11 and DSM-5-TR classification logic to five mixed clinical vignettes and justify the chosen diagnosis

Explain the epidemiological concepts of incidence, prevalence, relative risk and attributable fraction using psychiatric examples

Identify culturally patterned presentations in Iraqi and wider Arab populations, including somatic idiom of distress and jinn-related attributions, and state how they alter diagnostic formulation

Perform and write a full mental state examination in a fixed sequence covering appearance, speech, mood, thought, perception, cognition, insight and risk

Differentiate delirium from dementia and from psychotic and affective disorders using onset, attention, fluctuation and consciousness criteria

Describe the psychiatric presentation and management of common organic causes including thyroid disease, corticosteroids, epilepsy and post-stroke states

Formulate a risk assessment covering suicide, self-harm, violence and vulnerability, and state the documented actions each level triggers

Explain the principles of capacity assessment and the interface between liaison psychiatry and medical teams

Distinguish generalised anxiety, panic, social anxiety, OCD and PTSD by core phenomenology, duration criteria and first-line treatment

Explain the fear-extinction and cognitive models underlying exposure and response prevention, and design a graded exposure hierarchy for a written case

Describe the neurobiology of reward, tolerance, withdrawal and sensitisation and relate it to alcohol, opioid and stimulant dependence

Outline alcohol withdrawal management, including thiamine and benzodiazepine regimens, and identify delirium tremens red flags

Compare pharmacological and psychosocial maintenance strategies for opioid and nicotine dependence, including substitution therapy

Apply developmental milestones and red-flag criteria to distinguish normal variation from autism spectrum disorder and language disorder

Describe the assessment and management of ADHD, including stimulant and non-stimulant options and monitoring requirements

Differentiate the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia and match each to non-pharmacological and pharmacological strategies

Classify neurocognitive disorders by aetiology and describe the typical cognitive profile of Alzheimer disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body disease and frontotemporal dementia

Explain the principles of assessing intellectual disability, including adaptive function and IQ thresholds, and the implications for consent

Compare cognitive behavioural, psychodynamic, interpersonal, supportive and systemic therapies by mechanism, indication and typical structure

Describe the components and evidence base of dialectical behaviour therapy and mentalisation-based treatment for personality disturbance

Explain group, family and couples therapy indications and the practical constraints of delivering them in resource-limited settings

Outline the stepped-care model and match service tiers to disorder severity

Summarise the principles of mental health service planning, workforce distribution and stigma reduction relevant to the Iraqi context

Complete two full timed mock examinations under exam conditions and record every error by domain and error type

Re-teach the five weakest sub-topics identified from the error log and rewrite the missed concepts in your own words

Recite the legal criteria for involuntary admission, confidentiality exceptions and reporting duties without notes

Rehearse a rapid recall sheet of drug doses, therapeutic ranges, monitoring intervals and withdrawal timelines

Review all previously flagged uncertain items and resolve each against a primary source