Early career psychiatrists – history, 2020 and beyond

The support of the WPA to early career psychiatrists started in 1999, when several fellows were invited to attend the World Congress of Psychiatry in Hamburg, establishing the first WPA Congress Fellows Network.

In 2003, the WPA Executive Committee created the Young Psychiatrists Council, targeting all trainees and early career psychiatrists registered in the national psychiatric associations. Later, in 2009, this was restructured as the WPA Early Career Psychiatrists Council, with one representative nominated for a term of three years by each WPA Member Society. Under the leadership of A. Fiorillo, the Council was divided into five geographic areas: Europe I, Europe II, Asia/Australia, Africa and the Middle East, and Americas1, 2.

As the Council was not renewed after its first triennium, for a while early career psychiatrists did not have a WPA official entity. In 2014, a group of early career psychiatrists proposed the creation of a WPA Early Career Psychiatrists Section to secure the continuity of support from the WPA.

In 2015, the WPA Early Career Psychiatrists Section was created, with the leadership of H. El Kholy and a board of six people from different regions of the world. In 2017, a new Section leadership was elected, expanding the board to eight people, representing different world regions: Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, South Africa, North America, South America, Asia, and Australia and New Zealand. Although the name of the Section is “Early Career Psychiatrists” , the term is overarching, as it represents and supports both psychiatric trainees and early career psychiatrists (up to seven years after becoming specialists in psychiatry), and there is no age limit or financial cost to be a Section member.

At the beginning of this triennium, we shared our views as early career psychiatrists about the future of psychiatry3. Then, in collaboration with the International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA), we conducted a survey targeting medical students across the world, examining the psychiatric curriculum during medical education4, with the support of the WPA Secretary for Education5.

We have also been conducting a World Psychotherapy Survey, aiming to further understand how psychotherapy is included in the psychiatry training in different countries across the world, and how much access trainees have to it. Besides, further to the work of the WPA Brain Drain Task Force6, the Section has been conducting a follow‐up of the Brain Drain study7 in collaboration with the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT). We have approached psychiatric trainees and early career psychiatrists across the world, investigating their patterns of migration, as well as their reasons to stay or leave their country.

In fact, within the medical field, mobility is growing at different levels, from patients to health professionals, raising the need for cross‐cultural training to meet global health competencies. Yet, although internships abroad are of interest to many, several colleagues face difficulties in having access to such opportunities overseas. Thus, the WPA Early Career Psychiatrists Section has proposed an Exchange Programme in the WPA remit. This will be an innovative project, since there is not currently a worldwide psychiatric exchange program, supporting the mobility across different continents of the world. These worldwide exchanges will enable participants to engage in clinical, research or teaching activities abroad, learning about a (very) different educational programme or a (very) different mental health system. This will allow early career psychiatrists to acquire intercultural competencies, gaining awareness of different expressions of illnesses and available treatments. These new experiences will stimulate professional networking, and the establishment of new partnerships and collaborations.

Another unique opportunity to bring colleagues from all over the world together has been the 3rd World Congress of Early Career Psychiatrists, that the Section has organized together with the Tunisian Association Jeunes Psy. Prominent speakers have been discussing the future of psychiatry together with early career psychiatrists. This meeting has been an inspiring occasion, strengthening the global network of early career psychiatrists.

Supported by the WPA, our Section seeks to promote the professional development of early career psychiatrists worldwide, offering several opportunities to its peer members. First, early career psychiatrists play an active role in the organization of the World Congress of Psychiatry, where an Advisory Committee of Early Career Psychiatrists has been set up since the Berlin Congress in 2017. The World Congress has several innovative sessions for early career psychiatrists that promote further interaction through the use of technology (such as the WPA 3 Minutes Competition, and more recently the Digital Interactive Theatre). Furthermore, the WPA has financed travel fellowships, supporting the attendance of early career psychiatrists to the World Congress.

Remarkably, the WPA has allowed numerous early career psychiatrists to present at the World Congress of Psychiatry, and for some this has been the first time ever speaking at an international congress. In addition, several colleagues have given presentations at regional or thematic WPA meetings across the world. Many of our Section members are also members of other WPA Scientific Sections, fostering the development of intersectional collaborations8, 9.

We keep our members updated with these opportunities and engaged with our events, which are publicized through our social media accounts (Twitter and Facebook), our members mailing list, and the Section Newsletter, which also features articles written by our members and collaborators.

The size of the WPA Early Career Psychiatrists Section has noticeably increased, with hundreds of members from continents around the world. The exceptional value of the WPA is the unique opportunity to accommodate the diversity of psychiatry, geographically and culturally, in its theories and its practice. Notably, across the world, early career psychiatrists are proud to be integrated and supported under the common umbrella of the WPA. Joining forces with drive and starting early in the professional career makes psychiatry precious and hopeful for its future.