European Federation Of Psychiatric Trainees Research Articles

Teo-pc Pilot Study – Trainees' Experiences and Opinions Regarding the UEMS Psychiatric Competencies in Their National Training Programmes

Psychiatric training in the European Union is undergoing a process of harmonization of national curricula in order to establish a common postgraduate training framework. The Research Group of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) is conducting a multi-national study on psychiatry education of trainees among the European countries in regard to the Union Européenne Des Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS) 2009 competencies framework. The aims are to raise awareness on these competencies, compile data on trainees‘ experience of their training and assessment methods, opinions on level of confidence, and on relevance of these competencies. This study surveyed trainees from 15 EFPT countries using a questionnaire developed specifically for this research. Psychiatric training in Europe differs significantly regarding length, with a training duration ranging from 4 to 8 years. Only 26,7% of the trainees were well acquainted with the UEMS competencies and trainees from only 8 countries declared to have a competency based national training curriculum. These results reveal that trainees have different experiences and opinions on competencies and assessment methods depending on their country of residence. A limitation of the results may be that our respondents are the EFPT representatives’ and probably have better knowledge on the educational issues. The combined quantitative and qualitative outlook on national training programmes from the trainees point of view enhances our understanding and perspective of the dynamic processes of psychiatric education in Europe. Data obtained from this research study contributes to the efforts to unify psychiatric training curricula.

Interactions of European Early Career Psychiatrists with the Pharmaceutical Industry: Status Quo and Directions for the Future

Interactions between the pharmaceutical industry and physicians have recently received attention for their potential to create conflicts of interest in clinical practice, research and education. As a consequence, several medical and psychiatric associations including the EPA have published guidance papers to encourage best practice. In this context, the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) performed a cross-sectional survey among European psychiatric trainees in order to ascertain the current level of interactions, as well as beliefs and attitudes towards interactions with the pharmaceutical industry. Responses from 1444 psychiatric trainees from 20 countries were obtained and reveal important differences in the level of interactions across Europe. Assigning a an educational role to the pharmaceutical industry and aid by senior psychiatrists in organizining industry-sponsored events were associated with a higher degree of interactions. Creating alternative, non-industry-sponsored educational opportunities and specific training dedicated to industry interactions may help to reduce the impact of the pharmaceutical industry on psychiatric training in the future.

Misconceptions and myths about cognitive-behavioral therapy among psychiatrists and psychiatry residents

Objective: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a widely used form of psychotherapy. Despite its well established efficacy for various psychological problems, it is surrounded by numerous false beliefs and myths. Some of these myths are not only common in clients, but are also shared by clinicians working in the area of psychiatry. Therefore, this study primarily aimed to detect the myths related to CBT that are common among psychiatrists and psychiatry residents in Turkey and in a sample of non Turkish European psychiatry residents. Methods: A questionnaire was developed by the researchers to detect the participants’ opinions on the following variables: personal interest in psychotherapy, CBT training available in the institution they work and formal training through courses, the effectiveness of CBT on various psychiatric disorders and some of the common myths and misconceptions about CBT. A total of 140 participants -73 psychiatry trainees, 33 young psychiatrists from Turkey and 34 members of The European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) from different European countries who were in Turkey for the annual forum of EFPT- completed the questionnaire. Results: The data revealed that only 32.1% of participants have education / training on CBT in their psychiatry training programs and only 2.9% of the whole study group rated CBT training in their institution as ‘sufficient’. 40.7% of participants (n:57) reported that CBT is the type of psychotherapy they are most interested in. CBT was seen as a treatment primarily for anxiety disorders but not in more severe disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar and personality disorders. 37.1% of the participants declared that they think CBT should not be used for patients with schizophrenia whereas the other two conditions in which CBT regarded as ‘should not be used’ by a significant number of participants were bipolar disorder and personality disorders (28.6% and 22.9% respectively). Conclusions: The findings of the study indicate the need to evaluate alternative and better ways of promoting CBT in order to reduce misunderstandings and improve good practice amongst professionals working in the area of psychiatry. The findings indicate the need to promote CBT and increase awareness for possible misconceptions and myths that have grown up around CBT. This will help reduce myths and misconceptions about CBT. Therefore it will also improve good practice amongst psychotherapy professionals and motivate purchasers and clients to demand help for a wide range of psychological problems that CBT may be effective as a means to reduce suffering.

This is why there is hope for psychiatry

This is why there is hope for psychiatry

Can psychiatric trainees have a role in the improvement of training? The first 20 years of European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees

The European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT), founded in London in 1992, is an independent international federation of psychiatric trainees' national associations. The EFPT is engaged in several actions in order to pursue its general aims to promote high standards of quality of psychiatric training and promote the collaboration and networking between European psychiatric trainees. Member associations constitute the general assembly that meets annually during the European Forum of Psychiatric Trainees. During the Forum, working groups are created and the activities for the next year are planned. Regular activities of the EFPT include the production of statements expressing the standpoint of trainees on educational issues, the conduction of research projects, the creation of new national trainees' associations, the facilitation of networking among European psychiatric trainees and the organization an annual meeting (EFPT Forum). The last EFPT Forum has been organized in Sorrento (Italy) on May 2012. Psychiatric trainees from 37 European countries have registered to this event. EFPT activities constitute a opportunity for psychiatric trainees to directly participate in the improvement of their psychiatric training and to establish a network with European colleagues that will contribute to their professonal development.

EPA-1475 – Junior doctors and exchange programmes

The EFPT (European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees) is the first and only Federation of medical trainee associations, to our knowledge. It is composed of 38 member associations from 35 countries across Europe. With 22 years of experience it is well placed to comment on training issues and of those transversal to a large number of countries, such as mobility and its impact on healthcare. One of EFPT's current main activities is the Exchange Programme which is trainee-led and was created in order to facilitate mobility during training. For over 10 year trainees from Europe have identified mobility as need in training, acknowledged in EFPT statements. But is was only in 2011 that the Programme was established with the objective to provide trainees with opportunities to: - Promote awareness of intercultural aspects of Psychiatry - Engage in clinical, and/or research, and/or teaching activities - To become acquainted with different mental health systems - To gain experience of different illness manifestations and treatment options - To experience a different training programme - To socialise with peer group, promote networking and discuss coping strategies regarding work life balance There are 11 countries offering vacancies (Fig. 1). To date, 44 exchange placements were completed and by December it is expected there will be 61 (Fig. 2). Feedback has been overly positive. Training is the core of excellence in healthcare. By equipping trainees with additional skills through mobility during training, we believe we are contributing to improving mental healthcare globally.

473 – Collaborative trainee-led research in psychiatry in Europe

Research is one of the most appealing fields for trainees in psychiatry and is an essential competency within curricula. Skills gained through research impact on clinical care and can be developed throughout the training of young psychiatrists. Since mobility is growing at different levels within psychiatry, giving rise to new challenges while requiring the exchange of visions and know-how , international collaborative research becomes crucial and should be promoted since the training. To share the experience of joint work and collaborative research done through joining professional associations, such as the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) that provide opportunities for participating in research activities and establishing networks with others. The interest for academic background and investigational activities are essential in psychiatry, being therefore crucial to share and promote discussion on the international research projects done in an international meeting point like this. Assess the research projects done through time by the EFPT research group with special focus on the most recent ones. Since 2008 the EFPT started a research group with the aim of facilitating trainee-led collaborative studies. Over the years, several international research projects on training-related areas have been conducted and published in international peer-reviewed journals. The research projects done will be briefly presented, showing that trainees can have the possibility to participate in all the phases of the projects as national coordinators and share with other colleagues their research competencies, having the possibility at times to rely on supervision by internationally renowned experts.

897 – European federation of psychiatric trainees (efpt) exchange programme: building links across europe

Introduction This is the first European psychiatric exchange programme and it aims to promote an intercultural professional exchange and cooperation among psychiatric trainees across Europe, with a focus on individual experience. Objectives To provide trainees with the opportunities to: • promote awareness of intercultural aspects of psychiatry • engage in clinical, and/or research, and/or teaching activities • become acquainted with different mental health systems • gain experience of different illness manifestations and treatment options • experience a different training programme • socialise with peer group, promote networking and discuss coping strategies regarding work life balance Methods The programme was developed by the exchange working group of the EFPT in 2011 and it offers 2-6 weeks in observational placements across Europe in diverse areas. Results Feedback from pilot phase (January-July 2012) has shown excellent overall satisfaction of participants in the project. In the 2nd phase (August-December 2012) the programme has expanded offering more observational placements in 8 countries such as: Croatia, Denmark, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and UK. In the 3rd phase (January-July 2013) it expanded further to include Ireland, Netherlands and Romania in a total of 11 hosting countries. Placements are offered in many subspecialties such as: psychotherapy, emergency psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, eating disorders, family therapy, liaison psychiatry and psychosomatics, drug addictions, learning disabilities, forensic psychiatry and old age psychiatry. Conclusions We hope that the diversity of placements offered by this innovative programme will constitute a new approach to the improvement of psychiatric training and practice across Europe.

1511 – Interface between child and adult mental health services. what can we do to improve the gap?

Transition from adolescent to adult mental health services is extremely important since most mental illnesses start in late adolescence. Although often discussed, this issue is rarely studied. The aim of this study is to gather information of how transition from adolescent to adult mental health services is yielded across Europe. The study was conducted during the EPA and the IACAPAP conferences in 2012 as a joint project of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees and the Early Career Psychiatrists Committee. The survey contained 14 questions related to general data, situation of transition in participant’s country and participant’s opinion on the concept of transition process. It was given to the randomly chosen participants (N=397). The questionnaire was completed by 166 European participants from 28 European Countries. They were mostly men (N= 88, 53 %) and specialists (N=107, 64.5%). Nearly half (N=76, 45.8%) have contact with transition issues at least once per month. Data analysis is in progress, but preliminary results show that more than half of participants think the transition process could be significantly improved (N=94, 56,6%), and they are manly from Italy, Portugal, Germany, Ireland and Spain. Only one fourth is quite satisfied with the current situation (N= 45, 27,1%). The latter group in mainly from the UK. We plan to use these results to broaden the study and gather more details regarding this issue in every European country

Trainees’ views on the future of psychiatry: a plethora of challenges ahead of us

In 2010 Katschnig published a paper in this journal on internal and external challenges to psychiatry as a profession 1. The article identified six challenges for the profession: three from inside (decreasing confidence about the knowledge base concerning diagnosis and classification; decreasing confidence about the knowledge base regarding therapeutic interventions; and lack of a coherent theoretical basis) and three from outside (client discontent; competition from other professions; and negative public image). The Board of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) decided to carry out an online survey among trainees on their opinions regarding these and similar challenges. The questionnaire asked the respondents: a) to indicate the three most important future challenges to psychiatry as a profession and challenges to postgraduate psychiatric training, and b) to rate the importance of eight statements reflecting the major challenges (all of them derived from the six identified by Katschnig) in terms of their importance on a 4 point Likert scale (very important, important, not important, not at all important). Sixty-six trainees from 32 countries, representing national trainee associations within EFPT, participated in this survey. Thirty-nine percent were male; the mean age was 30.9±3.7 years, and the mean number of years of completed training was 3.3±1.6. In the open-ended question on the three most important future threats to psychiatry as a profession, the negative public image of psychiatry was mentioned most frequently (45.4%), followed by the questionable results of studies on psychiatric treatment (42.4%) and by the lack of a coherent theoretical foundation of the discipline (34.8%). Other issues of concern were the funding of the mental health system, the role of pharmaceutical companies, client discontent and problems of recruitment to psychiatry. All of the eight closed questions had a very high endorsement rate (“important” or “very important”). Nearly nine of ten respondents (87.9%) regarded the negative public image of psychiatry as threatening, and related to this, nearly three quarters (74.2%) were concerned with the low status of psychatry within medicine. A majority felt that the questionable validity of psychiatric diagnosis (83.3%), the questionable results of scientific research (78.1%), and the waning confidence in the results of therapeutic intervention studies (72.3%) are a challenge. Lower endorsement, but still above 70%, was obtained for the opposing ideologies and concepts within psychiatry (71.2%). The least important threats were seen in the mounting patient and carer criticism (66.7%) and the intrusion of other professions into psychiatry’s traditional field of competence (63.1%). In relation to the future of psychiatric training, two crucial challenges were identified: to improve the quality of educational opportunities (62.1%), and to achieve international standardization of training programs (31.8%). Clearly, the issue of the negative public image of psychiatry and the problems of the validity of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment studies are a major concern of psychiatric trainees in Europe, which is in accordance with previous findings 2. What is reassuring, however, is that 94% of the respondents are not thinking of leaving the field of psychiatry and as many would advise medical students to choose psychiatry as a specialty. Over 80% said that psychiatry was their first specialty choice. So, this is a determined group, that sees the problems but will certainly cooperate in tackling them.

Les internes en psychiatrie et l’Europe : le 19e forum de l’European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees

This paper's main goal is to present the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees. This organization, which gathers 28 European countries, continues to expand its borders and increase its skills. We will also talk about the latest news about EFPT through the presentation of its 19th annual Forum held in Prague in June 2011.

Early career psychiatrists corner: Third young psychiatrists’ network meeting: Stigma in YPs’ perspective

The movement of the young psychiatrists’ (YPs) network (YPN) was born in 2009 and has developed substantially since then. The idea of network collaboration was suggested by the Swedish Eastern Europe Committee (Assoc. Professor Jerker Hanson) and found approval of YPs from Lithuania, Sweden, Belarus, and Russia in Kaliningrad in May 2009. Next 2 meetings took place in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2010 devoted to neuropsychiatry and diagnostic scales and Riga, Latvia in 2011 with the main topics of personality disorders and coercive care. The number of countries-delegates has increased from 4 in 2009 to 18 (90 YPs) in 2011. YPN is open to all interested YPs all over the world and supports any activity of participants in the field of professional development. YPN preferentially focuses on international exchange of recent evidence-based knowledge about mental health and treatment focusing on patient’s rights, national diversities and cultural traditions and working toward destigmatizing psychiatrists and mental disorders in society using the creative ideas of young minds and innovative technologies. The interaction between in YPN is based on mutual respect, openness and already friendship. The activity of organization includes both on-line collaboration and annual conferences with publishing of abstract booklets of young researchers. Programmes of YPN Meetings include not only lectures by prominent professors but maintain workshops and social program as a way to increase activity and involvement of young participants. After each conference all YPs are welcomed to take part in organizing committee of the future meeting. The forthcoming Meeting is supported by European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees and will take place in Minsk, Belarus, 27–29th September 2012. The project is oriented on the development of new perspectives in understanding of phenomenon of stigma of mental disorders in patients, professionals and society, as it seems to be a real substantial obstacle in contemporary psychiatry. The program of the conference is accessible at www.ypsnet. org and includes lectures by Professors N. Sartorius (Switzerland), Sir D. Goldberg (UK), W. Gaebel (Germany), W. Rutz (Sweden), R. D’Souza, A. Janca (Australia), E. Mohandas, Anu Kant Mital (India), R. Evsegneev, O. Skugarevsky, S. Igumnov (Belarus). Members of early career psychiatrists’ organizations such as EFPT, WPA ECPC, AFECP, Russian ECPC and others will discuss their collaboration during the meeting of YPN without involvement or creation of any new organization. YPN is just the unity of early career psychiatrists from all countries of Europe and Russia. YPN is not an organization of any hierarchy but collaboration of enthusiastic YPs from Europe and Russia who encourage each other in an open dialogue and a brainstorming fostering atmosphere. The importance of meeting is emphasized by first participation of young colleagues from AFECP and their involvement in activities of organizing committees of future annual Meetings. It is an important step for AFECP to promote itself on the international level among ECPs organizations, demonstrate the opinion, share experience and make a contribution into networking on behalf of Asia. Members of AFECP are welcomed to provide the ideas of networking worldwide through the countries of Asia and strengthen collaboration between European and Asian YPs for further assistance in solving current professional problems and mutual benefits of early career psychiatrists in their own countries. YPN is sincerely grateful to Elsevier who kindly supported the process of developing and publishing of promoting materials about the Meeting.

Trainee experiences of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) training in Europe: 2010–2011 survey of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) CAP working group

The objective of this study was to investigate trainee experiences of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) training across Europe in the following domains: (A) structure and organisation of training; (B) training quality and content; and (C) working conditions and recruitment. CAP trainee representatives were contacted via email across 34 countries in Europe using the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) email list to complete a survey on CAP training in 2010-2011. The European Union of Medical Specialties CAP group and trainees at the 2011 EFPT forum validated the survey data. Full surveys were submitted by 28 of the 34 countries who have national CAP training schemes. These 28 countries are subject to the following further analysis. 7/28 countries (25 %) have a core common trunk in general psychiatry before trainees specialise in CAP. All countries bar one have national training standards for CAP. Training standards are implemented in practice to a variable extent. There is a CAP-specific theoretical education programme and national CAP conference in 25/28 countries (89 %). Supervision occurs at least weekly in 19/28 countries (68 %); emergency duty supervision is available in 18/28 (64 %) countries; educational supervision is available in 13/28 countries (46 %). Psychotherapy training is obligatory in 19/28 countries (68 %). Research training is obligatory in 8/28 countries (29 %). Sub-specialty experience is extremely variable. Recruitment into CAP is a problem in 19/28 countries (68 %). Training experiences in CAP varies widely across European countries.

ECP01-01 - European federation of psychiatric trainees research activities: an international psychiatric trainees research network

Research is one of the most attractive fields for young doctors training in psychiatry. The acquisition of research skills by all trainees has been recommended by recent consensus documents on standards of psychiatric training in Europe. However, not always trainees have adequate access to all the phases of a research project during their residencies. Joining professional associations provides opportunities for participating in research activities and establishing networks with other colleagues. In this respect, the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) in 2008 started a research group with the aim of facilitating trainee-led collaborative studies. Over the years several international research projects on training-related areas have been conducted and published in international peer-reviewed journals. EFPT members can participate to all the phases of the projects as national coordinators and share with other colleagues their research competencies. Furthermore, many EFPT research projects have had the possibility to rely on supervision by internationally renowned experts. Currently, the topics of the main ongoing studies are: 1) Early career psychiatrists views on psychiatric training (in collaboration with European Psychiatric Association - Early Career Psychiatric Committee); 2) Relationship between trainees and pharmaceutical industries; 3) Child and Adolescent psychiatric training; 4) Trainees’ views on the future of psychiatry and psychiatric training; 5) Trainees’ access to information and use of information technologies during training. In this presentation, issues in research training will be discussed, the EFPT cooperative trainee-led research network will be described and an overview of the results of the ongoing studies will be provided.

AS34-03 - How we know what we know now about training in Europe? current opportunities for European Trainees

Background, Aims and Objectives • The European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees is an independent federation of psychiatric trainees associations. 37 Countries were represented at the annual Forum in 2011. • A Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) Working Group meets at this annual forum to discuss issues of relevance to CAP trainees. At the 2009 meeting, the group reflected on difficulties in collecting data on training across Euro. Methods 1. Ten item survey was was circulated to trainee representatives to the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees who attended the annual Forum in 2009. 2. Following this pilot study, a much larger study was conducted from 2010–2011. Results • EFPT survey: In 2009–2010 pilot survey - 27 countries responded. • The EFPT CAP group expanded this in 2010–2011. This survey collected data from 34 countries, 28 of whom provided full data-sets in the following domains: ○ Structure and organisation of training; ○ Training quality and content; and ○ Working conditions and recruitment . ○ Statistical analysis was performed on the data to achieve overall rankings of CAP training quality. Conclusions • This symposium will look at developing national and international surveys. Results from two completed EFPT CAP studies and ongoing work presented. These studies add significantly to extant literature- it is clear that training across Europe is extremely variable. • This symposium will also highlight current opportunities for European Trainees. International collaborations and opportunities for trainees will be explored, and we will consider the role of trainees in international organisations

P-852 - Access to information in psychiatric training (ATIIPT) among the delegates to the european federation of psychiatric trainees (EFPT) 2011 forum

In the last decades, psychiatric training has undergone a major transformation due to the contribution of recent scientific developments in psychiatry. Nowadays, the information acquired during the Psychiatric training seems considerably variable in content and quality between different countries. However, data concerning access to information and also about the educational resources available to the trainees in Europe is very limited. The ATIIPT survey aimed to evaluate Psychiatric trainees’ access to published, online, senior's or industry's information in Europe. A short paper questionnaire constituted of 7 questions (Appendix 1) was created by the members of the EFPT Research Working Group and passed to each delegate of the 32 countries represented at the 19 th EFPT Forum in Prague, Czech Republic, on the 2 nd of July 2011. According to the ATIIPT results, access to information among Psychiatric trainees in Europe is heterogeneous. The most available resources are books and websites, and the most preferable resource is journals. Most of the trainees find their resources sufficient, with the main obstacles being related to low availability of journals and books, lack of time and help from seniors. Better access to information and more evidence in practice is warranted, since the introduction of novel approaches to access to information may create better psychiatrists in the future, encourage medical students to consider psychiatry as a potential career, and help reduce negative attitudes towards mental illness.

P-857 - Early career psychiatrists' opinions on psychiatric training: an europe-wide survey

Continuous advances in psychiatric research and increased service users’ expectations led to the need to develop a new international framework for psychiatric training. The assessment of early career psychiatrists’ (ECPs) views has been emphasized as an important step of this process. However, at the moment, only few national studies have investigated ECPs’ opinions on received training. To assess: ECPs’ satisfaction with training and self-confidence in different psychiatric domains; availability of clinical supervision and educational opportunities during training. The Early Career Psychiatrists Committee of the European Psychiatric Association - in collaboration with the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees, conducted an online survey among European ECPs. The Psychiatric Training Questionnaire, a multiple choice-answer self-reported instrument developed for this occasion, was completed by 194 respondents from 34 European countries. Most respondents (73%) were completely or partially satisfied with the received training. Highest levels of self-confidence were reported in clinical psychiatry (93%), pharmacotherapy (68%) and emergency psychiatry (67%); the most problematic areas for ECPs were forensic psychiatry (68%), psychotherapy (63%) and child and adolescent psychiatry (57%). Thirty percent of ECPs were not assigned to a tutor for clinical activities, 67% did not receive any psychotherapeutic supervision and only 19% participated in exchange programs. ECPs are globally satisfied with the training received; however, they report the need to enhance training in psychotherapy, forensic psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry, to ensure adequate supervision to all trainees and to improve the opportunities for international exchange programmes.

AS34-04 - Current endeavours to consolidate the evidence base around training in Europe

EFPT - The European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees is an independent federation of psychiatric trainees associations and its function is to provide a forum in which trainees can learn about the diversity of the current training of psychiatrists in Europe. EFPT consists of several working groups that focus on supporting different fields (e.g. psychotherapy, child and adolescent psychiatry etc) and carry out various projects. The aim of CAP working group is firstly to represent CAP trainees and develop common recommendations regarding training while furthering links with organisations such as UEMS. In recent years the group has also recognised the need to collect information in order to assess the quality level of training in european countries, to recognise differences and build upon positives. In 2010–2011 this focused on training standards around Europe. In 2011–2012 we focus on: A. The field of psychotherapy. The CAP group recognises that family relationships play a major role in the formation of a childs personality. The survey is being conducted in conjunction with the Psychotherapy WG within EFPT; thus training in this area in both adult psychiatry and CAP will be compared. Initial results will be presented at this symposium. B. We believe that awareness of mental illness in the childhood should be an important part of the education in medical faculties. Therefore, we are keen to ascertain what placement opportunities in CAP are currently offered to medical students around Europe. Gathering information on this isT is our second aim for the next year.

Young psychiatrists’ meetings in Eastern Europe - Networking for the development of psychiatric training, education and service

Although it is heartening that training activities in Europe have been evaluated 1, and robust standards set 2,3, discrepancies still exist between Eastern and Western Europe 4. Undoubtedly, some of this relates to economic factors, though this is only part of the story. In some Eastern European countries, formal psychiatry residency programmes are shorter than a year, and trainees acquire most of their knowledge through courses outwith their training programme 3. Furthermore, national trainee organizations do not exist in every country, but even if they do, low membership numbers may impede any progress. It is also crucial to integrate trainees’ organizations into educational and specialists’ organizations to feedback concerns and implement change. Technical problems like lack of Internet access may make trainee interaction difficult. One possible solution is the inception of pan-European trainee meetings, and promoting trainees’ contributions to curriculum development in their own countries 5. Sweden has for several years had a specific interest in Eastern European psychiatry, evidenced by projects funded by the Swedish Eastern Europe Committee (SEEC). Until recently, however, few projects have involved trainees or young psychiatrists (YPs). Through a SEEC initiative, a pilot meeting discussing needs of YPs in Eastern Europe took place in Kaliningrad in May 2009. YPs from Belarus, Lithuania, Russia and Sweden agreed to organize meetings to promote networking and the exchange of experiences, facilitating YP education. Using existing networks such as the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) and the WPA Early Career Psychiatrists Council 6, an organizing committee was created, and a grant from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) facilitated the inaugural meeting. Entitled “Ways to exchange knowledge and experiences of Young Psychiatrists”, the conference took place in May 2010, involving YPs from the Baltic states, Belarus, Greece, Poland, Russia, Scandinavia and the UK. The contents of the conference included clinical topics, in addition to research and health care development issues. There were lectures, workshops, case and poster presentations, with Russian translation. A visit to local psychiatric institutions was arranged by the local organizing committee. The cultural diversity of participants was exemplified by a quote from one of the delegates, when giving feedback, “we look at the same but we see different things”. The evaluation of the conference showed workshops were identified as the most popular aspect, probably due to the possibility to discuss and exchange points of view. On a 5-point Likert scale (1 very poor to 5 excellent), 33 (100%) people described their general impression from the conference as “excellent” or “very good”. More than twenty topics for future meetings were suggested, including skills for YPs (education, leadership and working within teams). Latvian colleagues kindly offered to organize the 2011 meeting in Riga, from 6 to 8 April 2011. Thanks to financial support from WPA and SIDA, about 90 delegates from 15 Eastern and Western European countries will be participating. It is rewarding that YPs have been able to organize these meetings and we hope it will lead to continuous collaborations, facilitating future conferences as well as personal international contacts.

P01-265 - Child and adolescent psychiatry training in Europe: Views of trainee representatives for 2009 – 2010 to the European federation of psychiatric trainees

Background and objectivesThe European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) is an independent federation of psychiatric trainees’ associations. Previous studies have shown that up to 1/3 of countries surveyed did not have separate CAP training We surveyed trainees to gain insights regarding current training within the member countries of the EFPT.MethodsTen item Survey of Trainee representatives from 32 countries- using surveymonkey questionnaire.Industry standard encryption technology utilisied.Results27 respondent countries. Response rate 84.4% In many countries CAP and General Adult Psychiatry training were not separate Variable availability of training posts (surplus posts 23%, no posts/ long waits 19.2%) Duration of training: 3 years (19.2%),4 years (23.1%), 5 years (26.9%). In 35% of countries CAP training was entirely separate from commencement of training. In 40%, entry to CAP training occurred after training in general adult psychiatry. Trainees in 61.5% of respondent countries indicate their intention to specialise in CAP before entering training in psychiatry; 15% of trainees can indicate this at any time.ConclusionsThis is a survey of trainee representatives to the EFPT of ten items related to CAP training experiences. It highlights significant differences in training experiences in 27 respondent countries. From 2010 the EFPT aims to record detailed information on CAP training yearly. CAP trainees are an integral part of EFPT, and there are specific areas of needs in CAP training.