In Poland, the therapeutic modality of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) boasts a history spanning over seven decades. Despite its documented therapeutic efficacy and safety profile, its integration into clinical practice remains suboptimal. Recent data elucidates a marked paucity in the utilization rate of ECT in Poland. Therefore, it is imperative to discern the barriers impeding its broader adoption of this potentially life-saving treatment.

The aim of this study is to investigate the attitude of early career psychiatrists towards ECT and its place in clinical practice in Poland.

A web-based, anonymous survey was conducted, targeting early career psychiatrists in Poland. The questionnaire, part of an international study, consisted of 36 multiple-choice and Likert scale questions.

The majority of respondents emphasised the importance of further educational opportunities related to ECT, seeing it as a safe, effective, and possibly lifesaving procedure. Most of them benefited from ECT training during their residency, however less than a half had the opportunity to administer ECT themselves. They exhibited an interest to introduce ECT into their therapeutic repertoire, depending on the provision of requisite financial and infrastructural support.

There is a palpable eagerness among early career psychiatrists in Poland to enhance their proficiency in ECT. A robust curriculum, encompassing both theoretical discourse and hands-on ECT training, is paramount for all psychiatry trainees. Concurrently, there is a pressing need to formulate national ECT guidelines within Poland, which could potentially ameliorate apprehensions surrounding this procedure.

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Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective in treating severe major depressive disorder, manic episodes, and catatonia. Despite this, it is a controversial treatment amongst patients, carers, and even some psychiatrists in the UK.

To determine the experiences and perceptions of UK psychiatric trainees and early-career psychiatrists regarding the use of ECT in clinical practice.

An anonymous survey was distributed online to UK psychiatric trainees and early-career psychiatrists across the country. The questionnaire consisted of 36 multiple-choice and Likert scale questions.

So far, 44 trainees and early-career psychiatrists have responded. The vast majority had witnessed ECT administration during training and had administered ECT under supervision. Most respondents agreed or strongly agreed that ECT was a safe and effective treatment, and most respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that ECT is cruel or outdated. There were more varied views regarding perceptions of side effects and contraindications: a minority of respondents were unsure about whether ECT had long-term side effects, and whilst most respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that ECT has many risks and contraindications, just under half were unsure or agreed.

Most UK psychiatric trainees and early-career psychiatrists have experience of ECT during training and believe ECT is a safe and effective treatment. Respondents had a mixed view regarding the side-effect profile and risks/contraindications of ECT, which may be an important area for further education and training.

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Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric intervention that has proven effectiveness and safety in various psychiatric conditions, such as major depressive disorder, prolonged or severe manic episodes and catatonia. Despite positive scientific evidence, ECT was always seen as controversial by patients, caregivers, and even some psychiatrists, which lead to a decrease in its use over the years.

To investigate the way young psychiatrists view the place of ECT in modern psychiatry by assessing their knowledge, attitude and access to training opportunities in ECT.

An anonymous survey was disseminated online among early career psychiatrists and psychiatric trainees. The questionnaire consisted of 36 multiple-choice and Likert scale questions.

Most of our respondents consider ECT both an effective and a safe treatment option and would recommend ECT to their patients when indicated. Early career psychiatrists who had access to ECT training are more knowledgeable about the indications, precautions and side effects of this method, but more than half of the participants mentioned ECT training was unavailable during their residency programme. Almost all respondents stated that they are interested in enhancing their theoretical and practical competencies in ECT.

Early career psychiatrists have a positive attitude towards ECT but express the need of targeted education aimed at improving levels of knowledge about ECT.

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The prevalence of medical illnesses is high among patients with psychiatric disorders. The current study aimed to investigate multi-comorbidity in patients with psychiatric disorders in comparison to the general population. Secondary aims were to investigate factors associated with metabolic syndrome and treatment appropriateness of mental disorders.

The sample included 54,826 subjects (64.73% females; 34.15% males; 1.11% nonbinary gender) from 40 countries (COMET-G study). The analysis was based on the registration of previous history that could serve as a fair approximation for the lifetime prevalence of various medical conditions.

About 24.5% reported a history of somatic and 26.14% of mental disorders. Mental disorders were by far the most prevalent group of medical conditions. Comorbidity of any somatic with any mental disorder was reported by 8.21%. One-third to almost two-thirds of somatic patients were also suffering from a mental disorder depending on the severity and multicomorbidity. Bipolar and psychotic patients and to a lesser extent depressives, manifested an earlier (15–20 years) manifestation of somatic multicomorbidity, severe disability, and probably earlier death. The overwhelming majority of patients with mental disorders were not receiving treatment or were being treated in a way that was not recommended. Antipsychotics and antidepressants were not related to the development of metabolic syndrome.

The finding that one-third to almost two-thirds of somatic patients also suffered from a mental disorder strongly suggests that psychiatry is the field with the most trans-specialty and interdisciplinary value and application points to the importance of teaching psychiatry and mental health in medical schools and also to the need for more technocratically oriented training of psychiatric residents.

The boundaries between innovative clinical practices and research-related experimentation can be difficult to distinguish. Whilst mental health research has increased remarkably over recent decades, ethics is required to maintain and improve the standards of mental health research. Ethics and science can be seen as opposing forces with different aims championed by different people. However, ethics should not be a barrier to scientific advancement, but rather as the way that mental health research can be conducted with broader societal support, with the expectation of bringing wider benefit to people with mental illness. Scientific advancements may also lead to novel ethical problems and raise questions in relation to oversight responsibilities. Mental health research faces several unique ethical challenges. This presentation will provide an overview of the ethical issues linked with mental health research.

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With a history of several decades, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been carefully investigated and data supports its use as a safe and effective treatment for patients with severe depression, prolonged or severe manic episodes and catatonia. However, ECT is still regarded with reluctance by patients and caregivers, and its acceptance and use seem to be controversial even for psychiatrists.

To investigate the access to opportunities of training in ECT among early career psychiatrists and their views regarding the place of ECT in modern psychiatry.

A cross-sectional study was conducted between July and December 2022 utilizing an anonymous online survey consisting of 36 multiple-choice and Likert scale questions.

These preliminary findings show a great discrepancy regarding the availability of ECT training in European countries, as access to specialized ECT centers is unavailable in some areas. Early career psychiatrists who had access to ECT training are more knowledgeable about the indications, precautions and side effects of this method. Most of our respondents consider ECT both an effective and a safe treatment option and have expressed their wish to improve their theoretical and practical competencies in ECT.

ECT is a standard treatment and a therapeutic mainstay in psychiatry but is being less performed in some countries. Early career psychiatrists lack experience with ECT but are interested in training opportunities. Future actions are needed for the improvement of education and training in ECT.

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Psychiatry training programs vary in the degree to which they offer trainees with an opportunity to get involved in research. Exposure to research during the training period is critical, as this is usually when trainees start their own scientific research projects and gain their first experiences in academic publishing.

We present the European Journal of Psychiatric Trainees (EJPT) (ejpt.scholasticahq.com), the official journal of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT), including its scope, mission and vision and practical considerations.

Reflecting on the foundation and operation of the European Journal of Psychiatric Trainees.

The European Journal of Psychiatric Trainees is an Open Access, double blind peer-reviewed journal which aims to publish original and innovative research as well as clinical, theory, perspective and policy articles, and reviews in the field of psychiatric training, psychiatry and mental health. Its mission is to encourage research on psychiatric training and inspire scientific engagement by psychiatric trainees. Work conducted by psychiatric trainees and studies of training in psychiatry are prioritized. The journal is open to submissions, and while articles from psychiatric trainees are prioritized, submissions within scope from others are also encouraged. The article processing fee is very low and waivable. It is planned to publish two issues yearly.

The first article was published in July 2022, titled “Fluoxetine misuse by snorting in a teenager: a case report” and it received 218 views as of 17 October 2022, which confirms the journal’s potential for visibility.

The European Journal of Psychiatric Trainees is a non-profit initiative designed to offer psychiatric trainees a platform to publish and gain experience in publishing. Thanks to its robust double blind peer reviewing system, it has the potential to contribute to scientific excellence.

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Social media offers a unique opportunity to examine behaviors based on real-time objective data. For example, all public tweets that include the selected keywords can be collated. These offer vast opportunities to research attitudes towards mental health and mental illness in the general population, based on the tweets content. The tweet text, the date, the geolocation and international timestamp of when they were published, and the number of retweets and likes generated are informative data that can be extracted. Content analysis can be conducted using manual or machine learning approaches. Different examples of the use of Twitter for research in psychiatry will be presented and discussed in this session.

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As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020 a shift to remote consulting for routine primary care and outpatient appointments was instructed. With the aim to inform whether and how remote consultations should continue post-pandemic, the London NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) conducted a research-grade evaluation of the impact of this shift in London, focusing on cardiology and mental health as exemplar pathways.

Quantitative methodology aimed to explore patterns of healthcare use, efficiency, and clinical outcomes using de-identified patient-level health records datasets in North-West London and South London.

Qualitative interviews with clinicians and patients with experience in remote consultations sought to develop a more in-depth understanding of the experience of the move to remote consulting.

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The European Psychiatric Association (EPA) Summer School allows psychiatric trainees and early career psychiatrists (ECPs) from all over Europe to meet, network, and learn together. After the 2020 edition being cancelled due to COVID-19, the 10th edition in 2021 focused for the first time on research and was conducted remotely.

To provide an overview and feedback about the first Virtual EPA Research Summer School as a new way to encourage international networking during COVID-19.

The School was organized by the EPA Secretary for Education, and 4 Faculty members. It started with a “breaking the ice session” one week before and then a two-days meeting on 23-24 September 2021 using an online video-platform. This was preceded by all the 21 participants (from 18 different countries) recording a short 4-minute video presentation, which was uploaded and shared with other participants and Faculty.

Participants were divided on a voluntary basis into three working groups: 1) “Drug repurposing: overcoming challenges in pharmacoepidemiology” 2) “Psychopathological research in psychiatry”; 3) “How to conduct a cross-sectional survey?”. The Summer School program was composed of plenary sessions with lectures by the Faculty members, discussion sessions, and working groups time. At the end, each group presented a summary of the work done to the rest of the participants.

Although the remote format limits social interactions during the Summer School, overall participants’ high satisfaction and productivity indicate that not only online formats, but also the topic of research might be covered in future editions.

No significant relationships.

The 2021 Research Summer School took place virtually, and 7 psychiatric trainees or early career psychiatrists (ECPs) from 7 different European countries participated in a working group on how to conduct a cross-sectional survey study.

To provide an overview of the process of developing an internationally collaborative protocol during the EPA Virtual Research Summer School.

All participants were asked by the Faculty mentor chairing this working group to write a research question that could be investigated through a cross-sectional survey. After a brainstorming discussion, it was decided to investigate the experiences, knowledge, and attitudes of psychiatric trainees and ECPs about electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in Europe, an effective yet controversial procedure.

The process of developing a protocol entailed different phases. First, a literature search was conducted, which supported the need to explore more the attitudes towards ECT among ECPs. Through group discussion the study’s objectives were decided, as well as the most appropriate methodology (including data collection and questionnaire use). At the end of the course, the core of the research plan was presented to all participants at the Research Summer School, preceding its implementation.

Participating in the EPA Research Summer School is a unique experience, a great learning opportunity, and can also lead to fruitful collaborations. It enabled the learning of the key aspects of designing and conducting a survey. In a short period of time, it was possible to design a study protocol for a future international cross-sectional survey on ECT.

No significant relationships.

Leadership in healthcare organisations is crucial to continually improve and provide high quality compassionate care. Leadership development and training enables the psychiatrists in developing these essential skills. Focusing on how to enhance leadership development through leadership skills training and experiential learning should be a priority. However, little is known about the extent to which this leadership skills training is available across Europe in the early stage of the career of psychiatrists.

To investigate the access to leadership development opportunities among European psychiatric trainees and early career psychiatrists (ECPs) and their perceptions related to leadership skills training.

Cross-sectional study, using an online survey consisting of multiple-choice questions and free text responses.

Participants from 33 European countries took part in this survey, where the majority were female. More than half were general adult psychiatric trainees and more than a quarter ECPs. About half indicated having no access to leadership skills training within their training program, with only about 10% being satisfied with the training received. About half sought additional training outside their program. A vast majority requested training in leadership skills to be included in a psychiatric training program.

Our study provides an overview of important gaps in availability and access to leadership skills training amongst psychiatric trainees and ECPs across Europe. We hope that this study will help inform future actions pertaining to development and improvement of leadership skills training for trainees and ECPs across Europe.

No significant relationships.

People with psychosis are commonly socially isolated, both due to their condition, and the stigma towards them. Remote volunteering over smart-phone can be a way to overcome social isolation and physical distance, promoting social inclusion. This talk will present the qualitative findings from a feasibility study – the Phone Pal – which connected in the United Kingdom patients with psychosis with community volunteers, to communicate with each other for up to 12 weeks via smart-phone (through texts, WhatsApp messages, e-mails, audio or video calls). Participants described at the end of the study their experiences of communicating with their match over the smart-phone in terms of frequency, duration and timing of communication, their communication method, content and style, and the changes of communication over time. Several participants reported a positive impact of being connected with someone, meeting a new person, feeling supported and feeling better, and a few described challenges, such as disappointment, guilt and burden. These interview findings show that some matches were able to develop a positive and friendly relationship, and were willing to continue to be in contact with each other beyond the study duration. It is hoped that this talk will generate a lively discussion, gathering further understanding about the potential benefits and challenges of remote volunteering over smart-phone for patients and volunteers, and its potential usefulness in the current pandemic times.

No significant relationships.

The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic were many and daunting. Almost overnight, the lives of millions of people all over Europe was disrupted and people had to adapt to a completely new situation. Healthcare personal were amongst the ones most affected by it, whether by changes in their everyday work routine or by being the people directly in charge of responding to the demands of the pandemic. Trainees are an indispensable part of healthcare personal and, as a result, they were vastly affected by the pandemic.

Discussing the role of National Trainees Associations (NTAs) in pandemic times, including how they dealt with the new challenges, their successes and hardships, and their steps going forward.

Gathering of institutional information about the work of the Portuguese, Irish and Turkish NTAs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Critical appraisal of each of their contributions and projects.

There were impacts to trainees’ clinical work, formative activities and even personal lives. Amidst this turmoil, NTAs were precious institutions. Their objective is to represent the trainees of each country, looking for formative opportunities and linking trainees. During the pandemic, the work developed by the NTAs increase in importance, serving as a beacon of important information and as intermediaries in a number of discussions. They also aimed to minimize the impact on formative activities, whether by providing recommendations or by organizing some form of educational activity.

We provide some national examples – Portugal, Ireland and Turkey – and draw comparisons and lessons from each one.

No significant relationships.

No significant relationships.

The COVID-19 pandemic has enforced the restructuring of inpatient psychiatric services. In the UK, the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has introduced a triage ward system to ensure all patients have a COVID test prior to admission to the general ward with the aim to reduce COVID transmission amongst psychiatric inpatients.

To characterise the flow of patients through a COVID-19 psychiatric triage ward and the protocol of assessment and management used.

Descriptive analysis of patients admitted to a COVID-19 triage ward since its creation.

The caseload of patients admitted to the COVID-19 triage ward since its inception will be presented. This will include the profile of patients admitted, their status (formal/informal) and their acceptance of COVID-19 tests. The protocol followed at this COVID-19 triage ward will be presented, and the challenges faced and suggestions to overcome them will be discussed.

This presentation aims to share the workflow and protocols adopted at a COVID-19 triage ward in the UK, discussing challenges experienced as well as good practices.

No significant relationships.

The possibility of detention for treatment of mental patients may be controversial since introduces the possibility of the judicial power to dominate one's private life.

It is made an analysis of the legal problems in compulsory internment and treatment in mental patients in Portugal.

The diplomas mainly analysed were the Portuguese mental health law, Constitution and Penal Code. The study was based in four legal principles: necessity, proportionality, subsidiary and adequacy whenever a compulsory detention for mental treatment is imposed and the requisites for that decision.

Compulsory internment may only be determined when it is the only way to guarantee that patient is submitted to treatment, and when is deemed proportional to the danger of the legally protected value in question. Restrictions on patient’s fundamental rights shall be those strictly necessary and suitable to the effectiveness of treatment. Compulsory internment may be petitioned by the Public Attorney, patient's legal representative, public health authorities or any person.

In spite of the diversity of criteria for compulsory mental health care across several countries, Portuguese mental health law emphasizes the need for treatment as an essential condition for detaining patients with mental illness. The compulsory treatment is based on the judge decision supported in the psychiatric report. However, how can we be certain that a mental patient is going to practice a specific crime? Is it fair to punish without crime? Are there scientific criteria capable of ensuring that mental patients cause always violent behavior?

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 19th EFPT Forum in Prague, Czech Republic, on the 2nd 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.