About The Course
ADHD Clinical Case Studies translates complex ADHD presentations into structured clinical reasoning through three real-world cases. Led by Dr Sanil Rege, this course explores diagnostic uncertainty, comorbidity, sleep disturbance, emotional dysregulation, stimulant response and treatment sequencing. Participants apply an ADHD assessment model to move from presenting symptoms and differential diagnosis toward formulation, management planning and longitudinal monitoring in everyday clinical practice.
Who Is This Course For?
This course is suitable for:
- Psychiatrists
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (MHNPs)
- Psychologists
- Mental health professionals
- Clinicians working in or expanding into psychiatry and mental health care
Accreditation Information:
- Psychiatry Accreditation: This course is available for self-accreditation with the RANZCP and other relevant psychiatric and mental health organisations.
- GP Accreditation: The course is RACGP-accredited for general practitioners.
- On completion of this course, participants will receive a course completion certificate and 4 CPD hours (EA-1, RP-3)
What You'll Learn
- Apply a stepwise 9-step ADHD assessment model to support diagnostic accuracy and defensible clinical reasoning
- Evaluate comorbidities and differentiate ADHD from overlapping presentations, including trauma-related symptoms, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, substance-related factors, and sleep pathology
- Determine when stimulant treatment is appropriate, and individualise pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies when it is not
- Develop a shared formulation and management plan with clear targets, monitoring parameters, and long-term sustainability
- Integrate evidence-based guidelines with complex presentations, including risk assessment, treatment sequencing, and follow-up planning
Course Programme
3 Clinical Cases | Case-Based Learning | 4 Hours Total Length
- Applying a structured 9-step ADHD assessment model to support diagnostic accuracy
- Clarifying the presenting problem, patient expectations, predictions and functional targets
- Using collateral history, developmental course, compensation patterns and rating scales
- Applying the PACES framework to assess perception, activity, cognition, emotion/reward and sleep
- Evaluating comorbidity, differential diagnosis, documentation standards and shared management planning
- Understanding shared symptom profiles between ADHD and sleep disturbance
- Recognising diagnostic pitfalls involving fatigue, arousal, emotional dysregulation and sensory sensitivity
- Exploring sleep neurobiology, circadian rhythm, REM hyperarousal and attentional control
- Differentiating primary sleep pathology from ADHD-related sleep disruption
- Structuring a sleep-informed ADHD management plan with sequencing and outcome monitoring
- Formulating ADHD alongside mood symptoms, emotional dysregulation, OCD features and multimorbidity
- Assessing stimulant response, partial benefit, adverse effects and dose–response patterns
- Individualising stimulant, non-stimulant and non-pharmacological strategies
- Applying staged psychopharmacology, risk assessment, treatment sequencing and follow-up planning
- Developing shared management plans with monitoring measures and long-term sustainability
Course Description
ADHD In Practice: Clinical Case Studies from Basics to Complexity.
ADHD is rarely a simple checklist diagnosis. Presentations often involve overlapping symptoms, comorbidities, functional impairment, developmental compensation, and treatment responses that change over time. ADHD Clinical Case Studies is designed to help clinicians move beyond diagnostic labels and apply structured reasoning to real-world clinical presentations.
Led by Dr Sanil Rege, this case-based course uses three clinical scenarios to translate ADHD assessment, formulation, psychopharmacology and treatment sequencing into practical decision-making. Participants work through the reasoning required to clarify presenting problems, evaluate diagnostic uncertainty, and develop management plans that are defensible, individualised and clinically sustainable.
Case 1: Diagnostic Assessment Using the 9-Step Model
The course begins with a structured ADHD assessment model, including the role of collateral history, developmental course, compensation patterns, rating scales, differential diagnosis and shared formulation. Participants explore how patient expectations, functional targets and longitudinal monitoring can help move assessment beyond symptom counting and into clinically meaningful formulation.
Through the first case, clinicians apply the 9-step model to ADHD assessment and diagnosis, while considering comorbidity, documentation standards, stimulant response and long-term monitoring. The case highlights the importance of distinguishing enduring ADHD traits from state changes, including sleep disturbance, affective symptoms, substance-related factors and iatrogenic activation.
Case 2: Sleep and ADHD
The second case focuses on the overlap between ADHD and sleep, where fatigue, poor focus, sensory sensitivity and emotional dysregulation may be misattributed to ADHD alone. Participants examine arousal regulation, circadian rhythm, REM hyperarousal, attentional control and the clinical relevance of sleep history in ADHD assessment.
This section supports clinicians to differentiate ADHD-related sleep disruption from primary sleep pathology, including obstructive sleep apnoea, restless legs syndrome, parasomnias and delayed sleep phase patterns. It also explores how stimulant response, medication burden, autonomic activation and sleep fragmentation can influence cognitive performance, emotional regulation and long-term treatment planning.
Case 3: ADHD and Complexity
The third case moves into complex ADHD presentations where symptoms may overlap with mood instability, OCD features, emotional dysregulation, medication sensitivity, partial treatment response and multimorbidity. Participants work through how diagnostic labels can obscure the underlying formulation when executive dysfunction, arousal instability, sleep disturbance and affective symptoms interact.
This section examines staged psychopharmacology, including when stimulant treatment may be appropriate, when non-stimulant or alternative strategies should be prioritised, and how adverse effects, dose-response patterns and iatrogenic activation can shape clinical decision-making. The case also reinforces the importance of shared formulation, risk assessment, monitoring, treatment sequencing and long-term sustainability in complex care.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Apply a stepwise 9-step ADHD assessment model to support diagnostic accuracy and clinical reasoning.
- Evaluate comorbidities and differentiate ADHD from overlapping presentations, including trauma-related symptoms, anxiety, mood disorders, substance-related factors and sleep pathology.
- Determine when stimulant treatment is appropriate and individualise pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies when it is not.
- Develop a shared formulation and management plan with clear targets, monitoring parameters and long-term sustainability.
- Integrate evidence-based guidelines with complex presentations, including risk assessment, treatment sequencing and follow-up planning.
ADHD Clinical Case Studies supports psychiatrists, GPs, nurse practitioners, psychologists and allied health professionals to strengthen diagnostic confidence, formulation skills and practical ADHD management planning in complex clinical practice.
Related courses:
- Advanced ADHD Psychopharmacology: Medications, Neuroscience & Prescribing Guidelines for Clinicians: Clinicians wanting to deepen their understanding of ADHD medication strategies may find this course highly relevant. It explores ADHD neurobiology, stimulant and non-stimulant medications, pharmacological mechanisms, and prescribing considerations for clinical practice.
- Clinical Audit: ADHD and Sleep Dysfunction: This course complements the sleep-focused case in ADHD In Practice by providing a structured audit framework for assessing and managing sleep-related difficulties in ADHD. It supports clinicians to apply evidence-based sleep assessment, management and quality improvement principles in practice.
- The Art of Strategic Problem Solving in Psychiatry – From Diagnostic Formulation to Management: Clinicians interested in strengthening formulation and diagnostic reasoning may find this series particularly valuable. It integrates clinical neuroscience, phenomenology and management strategy to support more precise clinical decision-making in complex psychiatric presentations.
Apply an ADHD assessment model through three clinical cases, strengthening diagnostic reasoning, formulation, treatment sequencing and management planning for complex ADHD presentations in everyday practice.
Course Information
- 4 hours
- 4 CPD
Inclusions
- Over 3.5 Hours of Interactive Course Material
- Case-Based Video Learning
- Three ADHD Clinical Case Studies
- Structured Clinical Reasoning and Formulation
- Certificate of Completion
Material Downloads
- certificate
Instructor
Dr Sanil Rege MBBS, MRCPsych, FRANZCP
Dr Sanil Rege is a consultant psychiatrist with 20 years of clinical experience and 13 years of private practice experience, treating disorders across the full spectrum. He has extensive experience in ADHD management for over 10 years.
Dr Rege’s passion for teaching and educating others has led him to develop a masterclass that provides unique insights into ADHD beyond textbook descriptions.
Dr Rege has made significant contributions to the field through his numerous written works on the neurobiology, diagnosis, and management of ADHD and associated comorbidities. These articles have been widely read and have received over 300,000 views.
