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Reply to: Research by psychiatry residents in Indian scenario: Challenges and opportunities
Accepted Manuscript Title: Reply to: Research by psychiatry residents in Indian scenario: Challenges and opportunities Author: Ekin S¨onmez Dr. PII: DOI: Reference:
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Author: Howard Ryland Dr. PII: DOI: Reference:
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Author: Livia De Picker Dr. PII: DOI: Reference:
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Author: Mariana Pinto Da Costa Dr. PII: DOI: Reference:
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Author: Thomas Gargot Dr. PII: DOI: Reference:
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Author: Zetti Azvee Dr. PII: DOI: Reference:
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Received date:
13-8-2016
Please cite this article as: Azvee, Zetti, Reply to: Research by psychiatry residents in Indian scenario: Challenges and opportunities.Asian Journal of Psychiatry http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Reply to: Research by psychiatry residents in Indian scenario: Challenges and opportunities
1. Dr Ekin Sönmez, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey Contact: [email protected] *Corresponding Author 2. Dr Howard Ryland - South West London and St. George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, UK Contact: [email protected] 3. Dr Livia De Picker CAPRI, University of Antwerp, Belgium Contact: [email protected] 4. Dr Mariana Pinto Da Costa, Hospital de Magalhães Lemos, University of Porto, Portugal Contact: [email protected] 5. .Dr Thomas Gargot - Psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France Contact: [email protected] 6. Dr Zetti Azvee - Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland Contact: [email protected]
Reply to: Research by psychiatry residents in Indian scenario: Challenges and opportunities Sir, Having read the Letter by Parmar et al. about the challenges that trainees in India face while conducting research with interest, we want to bring you the viewpoint from Europe on this important topic. The European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT), the umbrella Federation of national psychiatric trainees’ associations in Europe, advocates for the improvement of psychiatric training in Europe. The WHO Mental Health Atlas (2005) identifies multiple roles for psychiatrists, including as researchers who can increase our knowledge base to combat the burden of mental illness. As psychiatrists of the future, we should receive training in research, in order to prepare us for this component of our mature role. We are aware that different countries have different training schemes, with varying durations of training and requirements for graduation or certification. Despite these differences, there are common problems that each individual trainee frequently encounters. In order to improve psychiatric training, it is crucial to include the perspective of those in training. EFPT collects data from annual country reports submitted by delegates from member countries that provide information about their experience of training. These reports have generated a considerable amount of data about different aspects of training. In the EFPT Country Reports 2016, trainees in a majority of the countries (27 out of 34), reported having to spend their own free time to conduct research, similar to the situation in India. In less than half of the member countries, trainees reported that they can engage in full-time paid research. Furthermore, the duration of research rotations is usually only up to 6 months, which is not normally enough to complete a scientific study. Finally, in most of the countries, research work is conducted simultaneously with clinical obligations and relies on a trainee’s individual initiative and motivation. Parmar et al. refer in this letter, to the abundant financial sources and opportunities to conduct research available in the West. Unfortunately, this does not correlate with the information we have from most of the European Western countries. There is significant variation in access to medical scientific information (Gama Marques J., et al., 2016) and low levels of public funding for mental health research (Wykes, T., et al. 2015). In agreement with Parmar et al., we would argue that research should be an essential part of theoretical and practical training in psychiatry, with adequate time, resources and supervision made available to all trainees for this activity. One possible way of overcoming the lack of resources could be to enhance communication and collaboration between research groups. We know that when groups are isolated they have less opportunity to ensure the continuity of their work and linking them up may provide much needed encouragement (Sartorius, 2002). The collaboration between trainees from different countries
may serve to help motivate new trainees and enable them to discover new opportunities in psychiatry despite the challenges faced (Pinto da Costa, M., et al. 2013, Andlauer, O., et al. 2014). The EFPT experience itself, has allowed many trainees to form or join such networks and present their work at international meetings and through publications. We have seen that the more involved a trainee is in such networks, the more confidently he or she can pursue future endeavours. The history of EFPT has shown that creating such a network of psychiatry trainees can contribute to the improvement of training, spreading information relevant for trainees globally, such as training possibilities or major international psychiatry events like congresses, courses or summer schools. We encourage our colleagues from India to join forces within and beyond their country in order to contribute more effectively towards shaping the future of psychiatry and psychiatric research. Acknowledgement: We thank Prof Norman Sartorius for pointing out the opportunity to communicate with our colleagues by responding to this letter. References
1. Andlauer O, Feffer K, Riese F. 2014. Junior Psychiatrists and Independent Research. JAMA Psychiatry. 71 (11) :1298. 2. European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees. 2016. The EFPT Statements 2015-16. Available from: http://efpt.eu/statements/ 3. Gama Marques J., Pantovic Stefanovic M., Mitkovic-Voncina M., et al. 2016. Equal access for all? Access to medical information for European psychiatric trainees. Psychiatry Res. 30 (238) 150-2. 4. Pinto da Costa, M., Giurgiuca, A., Kilic, O., et al. 2013. Collaborative trainee-led research in psychiatry in Europe. Eur Psychiat Journal. 28 (S1) 1. 5. Sartorius N., 2002. Fighting for Mental Health A Personal View. first Ed. Cambridge University Press, UK. 6. Union Européenne Des Médecins Spécialistes Section For Psychiatry. 2003. Charter On Training Of Medical Specialists In The EU Requirements For The Speciality Of Psychiatry. Berlin. Available from: http://uemspsychiatry.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/09/Chapter6-11.10.03.pdf 7. WHO. 2005. Atlas : psychiatric education and training across the world. Geneva, Switzerland. Available from: http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/Atlas_training_final.pdf 8. Wykes T., Haro J.M., Belli S.R., et al. 2015. Mental health research priorities for
Europe. Lancet Psychiatry. 2 (11) :1036-42.
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Author: Howard Ryland Dr. PII: DOI: Reference:
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Author: Livia De Picker Dr. PII: DOI: Reference:
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Author: Mariana Pinto Da Costa Dr. PII: DOI: Reference:
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Author: Thomas Gargot Dr. PII: DOI: Reference:
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Author: Zetti Azvee Dr. PII: DOI: Reference:
S1876-2018(16)30360-4 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 AJP 928
To appear in: Received date:
13-8-2016
Please cite this article as: Azvee, Zetti, Reply to: Research by psychiatry residents in Indian scenario: Challenges and opportunities.Asian Journal of Psychiatry http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2016.08.005 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Reply to: Research by psychiatry residents in Indian scenario: Challenges and opportunities
1. Dr Ekin Sönmez, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey Contact: [email protected] *Corresponding Author 2. Dr Howard Ryland - South West London and St. George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, UK Contact: [email protected] 3. Dr Livia De Picker CAPRI, University of Antwerp, Belgium Contact: [email protected] 4. Dr Mariana Pinto Da Costa, Hospital de Magalhães Lemos, University of Porto, Portugal Contact: [email protected] 5. .Dr Thomas Gargot - Psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France Contact: [email protected] 6. Dr Zetti Azvee - Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland Contact: [email protected]
Reply to: Research by psychiatry residents in Indian scenario: Challenges and opportunities Sir, Having read the Letter by Parmar et al. about the challenges that trainees in India face while conducting research with interest, we want to bring you the viewpoint from Europe on this important topic. The European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT), the umbrella Federation of national psychiatric trainees’ associations in Europe, advocates for the improvement of psychiatric training in Europe. The WHO Mental Health Atlas (2005) identifies multiple roles for psychiatrists, including as researchers who can increase our knowledge base to combat the burden of mental illness. As psychiatrists of the future, we should receive training in research, in order to prepare us for this component of our mature role. We are aware that different countries have different training schemes, with varying durations of training and requirements for graduation or certification. Despite these differences, there are common problems that each individual trainee frequently encounters. In order to improve psychiatric training, it is crucial to include the perspective of those in training. EFPT collects data from annual country reports submitted by delegates from member countries that provide information about their experience of training. These reports have generated a considerable amount of data about different aspects of training. In the EFPT Country Reports 2016, trainees in a majority of the countries (27 out of 34), reported having to spend their own free time to conduct research, similar to the situation in India. In less than half of the member countries, trainees reported that they can engage in full-time paid research. Furthermore, the duration of research rotations is usually only up to 6 months, which is not normally enough to complete a scientific study. Finally, in most of the countries, research work is conducted simultaneously with clinical obligations and relies on a trainee’s individual initiative and motivation. Parmar et al. refer in this letter, to the abundant financial sources and opportunities to conduct research available in the West. Unfortunately, this does not correlate with the information we have from most of the European Western countries. There is significant variation in access to medical scientific information (Gama Marques J., et al., 2016) and low levels of public funding for mental health research (Wykes, T., et al. 2015). In agreement with Parmar et al., we would argue that research should be an essential part of theoretical and practical training in psychiatry, with adequate time, resources and supervision made available to all trainees for this activity. One possible way of overcoming the lack of resources could be to enhance communication and collaboration between research groups. We know that when groups are isolated they have less opportunity to ensure the continuity of their work and linking them up may provide much needed encouragement (Sartorius, 2002). The collaboration between trainees from different countries
may serve to help motivate new trainees and enable them to discover new opportunities in psychiatry despite the challenges faced (Pinto da Costa, M., et al. 2013, Andlauer, O., et al. 2014). The EFPT experience itself, has allowed many trainees to form or join such networks and present their work at international meetings and through publications. We have seen that the more involved a trainee is in such networks, the more confidently he or she can pursue future endeavours. The history of EFPT has shown that creating such a network of psychiatry trainees can contribute to the improvement of training, spreading information relevant for trainees globally, such as training possibilities or major international psychiatry events like congresses, courses or summer schools. We encourage our colleagues from India to join forces within and beyond their country in order to contribute more effectively towards shaping the future of psychiatry and psychiatric research. Acknowledgement: We thank Prof Norman Sartorius for pointing out the opportunity to communicate with our colleagues by responding to this letter. References
1. Andlauer O, Feffer K, Riese F. 2014. Junior Psychiatrists and Independent Research. JAMA Psychiatry. 71 (11) :1298. 2. European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees. 2016. The EFPT Statements 2015-16. Available from: http://efpt.eu/statements/ 3. Gama Marques J., Pantovic Stefanovic M., Mitkovic-Voncina M., et al. 2016. Equal access for all? Access to medical information for European psychiatric trainees. Psychiatry Res. 30 (238) 150-2. 4. Pinto da Costa, M., Giurgiuca, A., Kilic, O., et al. 2013. Collaborative trainee-led research in psychiatry in Europe. Eur Psychiat Journal. 28 (S1) 1. 5. Sartorius N., 2002. Fighting for Mental Health A Personal View. first Ed. Cambridge University Press, UK. 6. Union Européenne Des Médecins Spécialistes Section For Psychiatry. 2003. Charter On Training Of Medical Specialists In The EU Requirements For The Speciality Of Psychiatry. Berlin. Available from: http://uemspsychiatry.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/09/Chapter6-11.10.03.pdf 7. WHO. 2005. Atlas : psychiatric education and training across the world. Geneva, Switzerland. Available from: http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/Atlas_training_final.pdf 8. Wykes T., Haro J.M., Belli S.R., et al. 2015. Mental health research priorities for
Europe. Lancet Psychiatry. 2 (11) :1036-42.