IME Discovery Session
Building a Sustainable Medicolegal Practice [Half-Day Workshop]
Friday 20 March 2026 | 9.00am – 1.30pm
The Commons, Level 1, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne
There is no shortage of information about medicolegal psychiatry. What is genuinely hard to find is a practical, honest account of how to actually build a practice doing it.
This four-and-a-half hour working session gets into the mechanics. You'll examine de-identified case materials, work through what legal teams genuinely need from psychiatric reports, and hear directly from two of the most experienced practitioners in this space — a consultant psychiatrist working exclusively in medicolegal assessment, and the Chief Medical Officer of one of Australia's leading medical indemnity organisations.
REGISTER NOW
Friday 20 March 2026 | 9.00am – 1.30pm
The Commons, Level 1,
55 Collins Street, Melbourne
Only 25 places available.
Morning tea and refreshments on arrival included.
4.5 hours RANZCP CPD—SGL Activity with Certificate of Attendance
$695 + GST REGISTRATION FEE
What you'll work through
Training and accreditation — without the noise Which accreditation bodies matter for which types of cases, and how to structure your professional development efficiently rather than accumulating credentials for their own sake.
Reading reports the way lawyers do You'll work directly with de-identified reports to understand the gap between what psychiatric assessors typically write and what legal teams actually need. The focus is on providing decisive opinions — not qualified hedging — and understanding why that difference matters in court.
Practice models compared Agency work versus independent practice, examined across referral consistency, administrative burden, and fee control. A practical comparison, not a promotional one.
Tools you can use immediately Templates, checklists, and systems for streamlining your assessment process. Strategies for managing the long-term professional exposure that comes with sustained trauma-focused work.
The program
8.30am — Registration, refreshments and networking
9.00am — Welcome and overview Dr Helen Schultz The role of the psychiatrist IME in the legal process.
9.15am — IME essentials Dr Helen Schultz Transitioning from clinical to independent practice. Expert witness obligations under the Civil Procedure Act. Setting fees. Agencies versus direct referrals.
10.00am — AI, record keeping and being protected Dr Owen Bradfield — CMO and Medicolegal Lead, MIPS Medical indemnity essentials for non-clinical practice. AI in report writing — progress or legal pitfall? Record keeping obligations in a shifting landscape.
11.00am — Morning tea
11.20am — Civil claims accreditation across jurisdictions Dr Helen Schultz Requirements in Victoria, NSW, and Queensland. Determining impairment — PIRS, GEPI, AMA IV and V guides, and the Wrongs Act.
12.00pm — Writing high-quality medicolegal reports Dr Helen Schultz Report structure for different matter types. Answering legal questions as an expert. Injury, impairment, causality, material contribution, apportionment. What keeps referrals coming back.
1.15pm — Summary, next steps and peer support pathways
Who this is for
Psychiatrists who are thinking seriously about medicolegal work and want a clear picture of what it involves before they commit. Practitioners who are already taking the odd referral and want to formalise their approach. Anyone preparing to pursue accreditation pathways and wanting to understand which ones actually matter for their intended case types. Those who would rather ask difficult questions in a small room than learn the hard way in practice.
What you'll take away
A clear action plan for accreditation steps relevant to your intended case types
Templates for report structure and opinion formulation
Practical strategies for managing the emotional demands of trauma-focused work
Guidance on fee structures and building referral relationships with legal teams
Realistic expectations about what the first 12 months actually look like
A worked understanding of how medicolegal assessment differs from clinical practice — through actual case scenarios, not theory
4.5 hours RANZCP CPD with Certificate of Attendance
About your presenters
Dr Helen Schultz FRANZCP
Dr Helen Schultz is a consultant psychiatrist who works exclusively in medicolegal assessment and reporting. Her practice covers historical abuse cases, personal injury claims, workers' compensation matters, and professional misconduct proceedings. She also delivers education for legal professionals and psychiatrists entering this field.
The IME Discovery Session is built around the questions she wished someone had answered clearly before she started.
Dr Owen Bradfield
Dr Owen Bradfield is a dual-qualified medical practitioner and health lawyer, and currently the Chief Medical Officer and Medicolegal Lead at the Medical Indemnity Protection Society. He brings 15 years of experience in the medical indemnity insurance industry, advising and representing doctors across civil claims, regulatory complaints, employment disputes, coronial inquests, and Medicare investigations.
Dr Bradfield is also a health law researcher at the Law and Public Health Unit at the University of Melbourne, a 2020 Fulbright Scholar, and a member of the Australian Government Virtual Care and Telehealth Expert Advisory Group. He is a highly sought-after speaker at medical and legal conferences in Australia and internationally.
REGISTER NOW
Friday 20 March 2026 | 9.00am – 1.30pm
The Commons, Level 1, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne
Only 25 places available.
Morning tea and refreshments on arrival included.
4.5 hours RANZCP CPD—SGL Activity with Certificate of Attendance
$695 + GST REGISTRATION FEE