Specialist training in psychiatry in Europe – Results of the UEMS-survey

Abstract

According to the aim of the Treaty of Rome from 1957 which postulated the free movement of workers throughout the European Union, the European Board of Psychiatry in the UEMS (European Union of Medical Specialists) carried out a comprehensive survey of training in psychiatry, including all member countries in order to evaluate the present state of training in psychiatry in each. The survey should indicate whether the training requirements [UEMS Section Psychiatry. Charter on training of medical specialists in the EU: requirements for the speciality psychiatry. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 1997;247(Suppl.):S45-7; UEMS Section Psychiatry. Charter on training of medical specialists in the EU: requirements for the speciality psychiatry. <www.uemspsychiatry.org/board/reports/Chapter6-11.10.03.pdf>; 2003 [last revision]] have had an impact on the actual conditions of training in psychiatry in the member countries. We gathered 22 questionnaires from 31 national representatives involved and 424 questionnaires completed by the chief of training and the representative of trainees at the responding training centres from 22 countries. The results give an overview about the practice of training in psychiatry in many European countries. While there are great differences between the training centres in different countries, apparent progress towards developing high standards in training in psychiatry has been made.

Psychiatry training in Europe: Views from the trenches

“…Thus, we consider training programmes in Europe to be broadly compatible with one another and that significant progress has been made towards harmonisation of psychiatric trainees' curricula in Europe. These findings are consistent with those from previous studies (Lotz-Rambaldi et al 2008;Oakley & Malik 2010). It should be noted, however, that some countries do not yet offer important subspecialties in old age or liaison psychiatry.…”

“…Recommendations were made for the structure of training programmes, competency-based training standards, standards for training institutions, trainers and supervisors, and quality assurance mechanisms (UEMS Section for Psychiatry 1997; Table 1). In a follow-up survey, the UEMS members evaluated the extent of the implementation of their recommendations (UEMS Section for Psychiatry 1997) and found that these were met only in part (Lotz-Rambaldi et al 2008). The results from subsequent surveys further confirmed differences amongst training programmes throughout Europe (Karabekiroglu et al 2006;Oakley & Malik 2010).…”

Psychiatric training in Europe

“…2 Towards this aim, several surgical specialties have already established accreditation and examination procedures that are recognised throughout the EU. 3 In 1992, the Psychiatric Trainees' Committee of the Royal College of Psychiatrists facilitated a meeting of European trainees and representatives from nine European countries convened in London.…”

Research skills training for child psychiatry residents

“…Young child and adult psychiatrists are often ambivalent about which career to pursue, clinical or research one, and this underscores even more the need for obtaining the information and skills during the residency training. In Europe, there is a paucity of the curriculum with regard to acquiring research skills and information on pursuing a research career in both child and adult psychiatry [3,4]. In this context, we report a new educational initiative at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Medical University of Vienna, Austria.…”