Transition Year Programme

Our Transition Year (TY) Programme is a one-week mental health awareness placement, conducted by clinical staff from St Patrick’s Mental Health Services.

About the programme

Every year, 100 students from across Ireland take part in the TY Programme, with 20 students participating in a week-long placement at a time.

Students engage in approximately five sessions each day, focusing on various aspects of mental health. They also get to take part in a mock multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting.

Each May, we mark the graduation of students who have completed the programme, hearing from special guest speakers and giving out graduation certificates to each of the students, who leave the programme empowered to act as mental health ambassadors in both their schools and local communities.

2021/22 programme

The next TY Programme takes place over five separate week-long placements across the 2021/22 academic year. To best protect everyone’s safety, students attend the placements remotely, joining in a diverse timetable and completing activities from their own homes.

Please note that applications for the programme are now closed.

What does the programme cover?
The online programme includes lots of different, interactive sessions which are specially adapted for a virtual setting and designed to give students a full and engaging experience.

Each placement aims to give students firsthand insight into mental healthcare. They begin with students being brought on a virtual tour of St Patrick’s University Hospital in Dublin 8. Throughout their dedicated week, students also:
- learn about the history of mental healthcare in Ireland
- meet mental health experts and clinicians
- hear from people who have gone through mental health difficulties on their experiences of mental health recovery
- prepare and deliver presentations on mental health topics
- discuss mental health stigma and ways to tackle it.
We work closely with students throughout the week to help build their mental health awareness and see them return to their schools as mental health champions.
When does the programme run?
The next TY Programme takes place over the five weeks below.
- 18-22 October 2021
- 8-12 November 2021
- 22-26 November 2021
- 17-21 January 2022
- 14-18 February 2022.
We are delighted to have been able to increase the number of places for students on each week-long placement to 25 for this 2021/22 programme due to it taking place online.

Applications for the 2021/22 programme are now closed.