About The Course
Metabolic Management in Psychiatry examines the interface between psychotropic prescribing, cardiometabolic risk, and emerging incretin-based therapies. Led by Professor Roger Chen, this course supports clinicians to recognise metabolic dysfunction, address psychotropic weight gain, understand GLP-1 and GIP agents, and apply practical monitoring and audit strategies to improve physical health outcomes in patients receiving psychiatric care, particularly where metabolic risk complicates long-term treatment and recovery.
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 9 CPD hours (EA – 3, RP – 1, MO – 5)
What You'll Learn
- Identify how metabolic dysfunction can influence psychiatric outcomes and recovery
- Demonstrate how GP-1 receptor agonists work and say which patients benefit
- Manage psychotropic weight gain, insulin resistance and dysglycaemia through prescribing: drug selection, titration, side effects and monitoring
- Recognise emerging metabolic therapies relevant to mental health practice
- Application of knowledge through case studies, quizzes and clinical audit activities
Course Programme
5 Modules | 25 Units | 9 hours total length
- Serious mental illness, diabetes, obesity and premature cardiometabolic mortality
- Life expectancy, cardiovascular disease and preventable physical health comorbidities in schizophrenia
- Australian and international evidence on metabolic disease in psychiatric populations
- Antipsychotic-related metabolic risk, dyslipidaemia and cardiovascular risk factors
- Knowledge check and dyslipidaemia-focused clinical activity
- Biological, genetic and psychosocial contributors to metabolic dysfunction
- Insulin resistance, HOMA-IR findings and early metabolic change in schizophrenia
- Antipsychotic-induced weight gain, early intervention and lifestyle-based strategies
- Metformin, the incretin effect and pharmacological approaches to metabolic risk
- Evidence for liraglutide, semaglutide and anti-obesity medications in severe mental illness
- Gut–brain signalling, appetite regulation, ghrelin, GLP-1 and GIP physiology
- Tirzepatide and dual incretin mechanisms in metabolic care
- Dosing and administration of semaglutide, tirzepatide, liraglutide, dulaglutide and exenatide
- Side effects, renal function, pancreatitis symptoms, hypoglycaemia risk and metabolic monitoring
- Psychiatric safety considerations, ECT-related gastric emptying concerns, obstructive sleep apnoea and metabolic health
- Metabolic screening in outpatient psychiatric practice, including HbA1c and lipid monitoring
- Lipase elevation, pancreatitis concerns and long-term safety of GLP-1 and GIP agents
- Prescribing responsibilities across psychiatry, general practice and endocrinology
- Metformin in early and established psychotropic-related weight gain
- Weight regain, lower BMI prescribing considerations, compounded products and disordered eating concerns
- Clinical audit and quality improvement principles using the Plan, Do, Study, Act framework
- Documentation and monitoring of GLP-1/GIP agonist use in psychiatric care
- Psychotropic medication review, gastrointestinal side effects and clozapine-specific constipation risk
- Appetite, nutrition, reduced oral intake and metabolic risk documentation
- Audit templates, case review, SMART goals, action planning and re-audit strategies
Course Description
Metabolic Management in Psychiatry: The Role of GLP-1 and Emerging Agents
Join Professor Roger Chen for metabolic management in psychiatry, a clinically focused course exploring how metabolic health intersects with psychiatric prescribing, long-term recovery and physical health outcomes. Designed for clinicians managing patients with serious mental illness, this course provides a practical framework for recognising cardiometabolic risk, understanding emerging incretin-based therapies, and applying monitoring strategies in psychiatric care.
Psychotropic treatment can stabilise symptoms and reduce relapse risk, yet metabolic complications may emerge alongside care. This course examines the clinical impact of psychotropic weight gain, insulin resistance, dysglycaemia and cardiovascular risk, while introducing the role of GLP-1 receptor agonists and GIP-based therapies in contemporary metabolic management.
Metabolic management in psychiatry is delivered as a reading-first clinical guide with optional listen-along audio. It includes clinical prompts, knowledge checks, drag-and-drop activities, prescribing considerations, and a practical mini-audit to support application in day-to-day clinical practice.
Metabolic Risk and Clinical Intervention
Modules 1 and 2 establish why metabolic health must be considered part of psychiatric care, particularly for patients with serious mental illness or those receiving antipsychotic medication. The course explores premature cardiometabolic mortality, diabetes risk, psychotropic weight gain, insulin resistance and the psychosocial factors that can make metabolic care more complex. It then moves into practical intervention, including lifestyle strategies, metformin, incretin biology and emerging evidence for anti-obesity medications in severe mental illness.
GLP-1, GIP and Psychiatric Prescribing
Modules 3 and 4 focus on the gut–brain relationship and the practical prescribing questions raised by GLP-1 and GIP-based therapies. Participants explore how appetite, satiety, metabolic state and psychiatric care intersect, with attention to dosing, side effects, monitoring, safety considerations and collaborative care across psychiatry, general practice and endocrinology. Professor Chen’s responses to clinician questions help translate the evidence into real-world prescribing decisions.
Clinical Audit on Metabolic Health
Module 5 supports clinicians to apply the learning through a practical mini-audit using the Plan, Do, Study, Act framework. Participants are guided to review documentation and monitoring of GLP-1/GIP agonist use in psychiatric care, including treatment indication, psychotropic medication review, gastrointestinal side effects, clozapine-related constipation risk, appetite, nutrition and reduced oral intake. The audit templates support structured case review, reflective practice, SMART goal development and re-audit planning as part of ongoing CPD.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Identify how metabolic dysfunction can influence psychiatric outcomes, physical health and long-term recovery.
- Explain how GLP-1 receptor agonists and GIP-based therapies work, and recognise which patients may benefit.
- Apply practical strategies for managing psychotropic weight gain, insulin resistance and dysglycaemia through drug selection, titration, side effect monitoring and follow-up.
- Recognise emerging metabolic therapies relevant to psychiatric and mental health practice.
- Use case-based learning, knowledge checks and clinical audit activities to support reflective practice and quality improvement.
This course supports clinicians to integrate metabolic monitoring and prescribing considerations into psychiatric care with greater confidence and clinical precision.
Related courses:
- Antipsychotic Induced Weight Gain and Metabolic Syndrome (MetS): Clinicians seeking a deeper foundation in antipsychotic-induced metabolic risk may find this course highly relevant. The course examines obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and the clinical impact of weight gain in patients receiving antipsychotic medication.
Psychopharmacology Masterclass: Advanced Training Series for Psychiatrists & Senior Clinicians: For clinicians wanting to broaden their prescribing framework, this series offers a wider exploration of clinical psychopharmacology, neurobiology and medication strategies relevant to complex psychiatric care.
Explore GLP-1 receptor agonists, metabolic monitoring, psychotropic-related weight gain, and audit-based strategies to improve cardiometabolic care and physical health outcomes in patients receiving psychiatric treatment.
Course Information
- 9 hours
- 9 CPD
Inclusions
- 5 Hours of Interactive Course Material
- Video Learning
- Knowledge Checks and Clinical Prompts
- Drag-and-Drop Clinical Activities
- Practical Mini-Audit
- Certificate of Completion
Material Downloads
Instructors
Guest Speaker - Professor Roger Chen Endocrinologist
Professor Roger Chen is Senior Staff Endocrinologist at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. He is a Conjoint Professor in Medicine at the University of New South Wales, Head of the Endocrinology Stream, The Rebecca Cooper Foundation and Editor-in-Chief, Endocrinology Today and Senior Editor of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Case Reports. He also holds academic appointments at the University of Sydney and at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Prof Chen completed his PhD at the University of Sydney and has worked in endocrinology for 30 years. His research interests are in diabetes in vulnerable populations and transplant-related endocrine disorders. He has been Medical Lead in the Metabolic Clinic in Mental Health and is now a Transplant Endocrinologist at the Heart Lung Transplant Service at St Vincent’s Hospital.
He is on several national and international committees and was the lead author of the Australian Diabetes Society’s (ADS) Position Statement on Mental Illness and Diabetes.
Dr. Sanil Rege Host and Course Editor and Reviewer MBBS, MRCPsych, FRANZCP
With extensive teaching experience through psychiatry education initiatives, Sanil is recognised as a motivational training facilitator and educator who promotes insightful collaboration and discussion
As the Academic Lead of Psych Scene and Chief Editor of Psych Scene Hub, he aspires to make a difference in mental health by empowering Healthcare Professionals to advance their skills and career through the provision of specialised education and training
Sanil is also founder of Vita Healthcare, a private clinic in Mount Eliza specialising in adult mental healthcare, with over 20 years of clinical experience and 13 years of private practice experience treating disorders across the spectrum. He currently works in the community, across in-patient, consultation-liaison and addiction psychiatry spaces.
Emma Vinton Course Developer - RMN, MPH FWCoN Nurse Consultant and Medical Writer
Emma is an experienced mental health nurse and medical writer with extensive clinical and academic expertise. She began her career in eating and affective disorders at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary in the UK, before progressing into community mental health services and later, primary mental health care.
In addition to her clinical background, Emma completed a Master’s degree in Public Health in 2016 and a Postgraduate Diploma in Strategic Leadership in 2024. This combination of frontline experience and strategic insight underpins her work as a principal medical writer and educator.
Emma is deeply committed to the clinical user experience. Her work is designed to support meaningful engagement, so that learners move beyond theory to deliver care that is evidence-based and genuinely person-centred.
