IntroductionPsychiatric 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.ObjectivesThe 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.MethodsThis study surveyed trainees from 15 EFPT countries using a questionnaire developed specifically for this research.ResultsPsychiatric 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.DiscussionsA limitation of the results may be that our respondents are the EFPT representatives’ and probably have better knowledge on the educational issues.ConclusionsThe 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.
Background and Objectives: Current psychiatric care is increasingly focusing on patients’ quality of life (QoL). Research is still trying to determine the main factors which influence QoL. The present study aims to assess the QoL of patients with chronic psychotic-spectrum disorders, as well as its relation to symptomatology, functionality, adaptive behavior, and perceived level of recovery. Materials and Methods: The study included a sample of 78 patients with chronic psychosis. Symptomatology and illness severity were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Clinical Global Impression Scale-Severity (CGI-S) scales, respectively. The Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAFS) and the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System II (ABAS-II)-Adult Form were used for the assessment of patients’ functionality, and the Quality-of-Life Inventory (QOLI) scale was applied for the evaluation of QoL. Results: According to the CGI-Severity scale, 20.5% of the patients were borderline mentally ill, and 24.4% were mildly ill. The highest number of patients (34.6%) were moderately ill, while 14.1% and 2.6% were markedly ill and severely ill, respectively. Among the moderately ill patients, more than half (63%) were patients with schizophrenia, 18.5% were patients with delusional disorder, and 18.5% were patients with schizoaffective disorder. Most of the patients (43.6%) presented moderate functioning deficiency, while 38.5% of the patients presented severe deficiency, according to the GAFS score. When assessed with the ABAS, we observed that almost half of the patients (44.9%) showed an average functioning across skill areas in the conceptual, social, and practical domains. A percent of 67.9% of the patients presented an average QoL, while 15.4% and 12.8% showed a very low and low QoL. QoL was not influenced by the patients’ symptomatology, gender, and education level. Having children, family support, better social and conceptual skills, and a higher perceived level of recovery was correlated with an increased QoL, hierarchical multiple regression R2 = 0.379, F(9, 68) = 2.616, and p = 0.012. Conclusions: Psychiatric interventions in psychosis should focus not only on symptoms’ control, but also on improving social and family support, as well as adaptive skills to increase the patients’ QoL.
Background The challenges faced by professionals when working in the field of psychiatry require the development of adequate defensive and coping mechanisms. This study aimed to explore both coping strategies and defense mechanisms and their relationship in psychiatry trainees in Romania. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine and evaluate both defensive and coping mechanisms of Romanian psychiatry trainees. Defensive Style Questionnaire-60 and COPE scale were applied to psychiatry trainees from five training centers in Romania. By applying structural equation modeling, models that presumed the existence of relationships between coping strategies and defensive mechanisms were analyzed. Results Superior defense mechanisms and task-oriented coping strategies were the commonly used approaches by psychiatry trainees. Furthermore, significantly consistent correlations (ranging from 0.2 to 0.5) between adaptive defense mechanisms and coping strategies focused on the problem or emotion were shown. Similarly, avoidant coping strategies correlated with non-adaptive defense mechanisms (correlations between 0.3 and 0.5). Our model presented good fit indices (X2(34) = 64.324, p < 0.001; GFI = 0.93; root mean square error = 0.08). Moreover, the results indicated a weak association between the two types of adaptive processes (r = 0.07, p < 0.001). Conclusion Psychiatry trainees present a profile based on two independent groups of adaptation processes, namely, adaptive defenses and problem-oriented coping scales and non-adaptive defenses and avoidant coping scales.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.