Are you thinking about AHPRA Case Reports?

Case Reports are a mandatory requirement for provisional psychologists in Australia. They must be assessed and passed by the Psychology Board in order for provisional psychologists to achieve full registration.

At COPP, we help psychology interns like yourself navigate the demands of Case Report preparation and submission. We understand that the process can sometimes be stressful, and we have strategies, resources and training in place to help you along the way.

Here are a few things to consider as you begin to compile your Case Reports.

Start early

Like many provisional psychologists, you may find the Case Report component of the AHPRA registration process quite daunting. To stay on track, these reports must be started early enough in your internship to allow adequate time to write them and have them assessed and returned by the Board.

Consider your case, structure, and format

Provisional psychologists need to select an appropriate case to report on. It can take some time to identify the right case in your routine practice, so it is a good idea to start thinking about which case will work best as early as you can. Case Reports must follow a specific structure and format, so it is important that you understand how you will present your information to the Board.

Think about word count

Staying on track with your word count is also important. AHPRA Case Reports have a 2500-word limit. This limit comes with an allowance of 10% over or under; however, documents that fall outside of this range will not be assessed.  As you begin to prepare your Case Reports, be sure to plan out your documents carefully. Take the time to look at existing Case Report examples and think about their structure and the word allocation in each section. This will help you to troubleshoot where you might need to increase or decrease words.

Understand what happens if the report fails

If a Case Report fails, it cannot be re-worked and returned to the Board. Instead, you will be asked to submit a new report. This can be a lengthy process, and it can delay your registration by several months. For this reason, it is important that you take your Case Reports seriously and get a handle on them ahead of time.

Need help?

At COPP we offer a full-day training workshop on writing AHPRA Case Reports. These run a few times a year and they are very popular. The sessions include an overview of case report requirements, templates and formulas that can be used for each section of the report, real case reports examples, and supervised writing blocks to keep you accountable while you get a draft report written. There are also tips for writing and Q&A opportunities with a Board approved supervisor.

Our interns also have access to our Case Reports Review Panel, which is a panel of Board approved supervisors who provide detailed feedback and comments on your report to allow you to finalise your report before sending it to the Board, assuring the greatest chance of passing.

Talk to us today to find out about our comprehensive Psychologist Registration Programs, including our 5+1 program and our bespoke 4+2 completion program.