Abstract Body

Training is a crucial time in any psychiatrist's career. It's a time when you are faced with new responsibilities and challenges, both professionally and personally, and senior and peer support are indispensable.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on all the essential needs of trainees: supervision, theoretical training, clinical care and contact with both patients and colleagues have been put under pressure and are no longer the self-evident part of training that they were before. Trainees are facing an unprecedented balancing act between their duties as physicians, their training needs and their dedication to the often vulnerable patients under their care, all whilst dealing with the personal consequences of the pandemic and the restrictions that have been put in place.

Based on the experiences of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) we will have a look into what has changed in the lives of trainee psychiatrists globally since the start of the pandemic, the difficulties that have occured and the lessons that have been learned. Examples of ways of dealing with the above mentioned challenges and opportunities for the future will be discussed.

Abstract Body

There are several sets of skills first set of skills which psychiatrists should acquire before or as early as possible after starting their career .THe first of those are communication skills – including those of listening, speaking clearly and convincingly, negotiating and writing scientific and other types of documents. A second set of skills are those that will enable psychiatrists to understand and use legal documents and materials. The third set of skills that is likely to be useful are skills necessary to function as a physician. These sets of skills combined with the knowledge of the subject of psychiatry should help in building a career in any of the areas open to psychiatrists..

Yet, more important than any of the skills or bits of knowledge that a candidate psychiatrist should have to build a career and be happy with it are the motivation to do psychiatry and the acceptance of a style of work marked by empathy, willing acceptance of ethical principles of medicine and if at all possible infectious optimism.

The above array of skills, knowledge style of work are not easily developed and those educating future psychiatrists should be careful in their selection of trainees and resourceful in the provision of training that will create psychiatrists who can advance the health of their patients as well as their discipline and will have a chance to live a rewarding life.

Abstract Body

Available evidence shows that countries may shield their population’s exposure and vulnerability to mental health risks during and after an economic recession by strengthening their policies and reorienting their budgets.

Populations’ mental health protection during economic crises can only be achieved by the policies of different sectors. Social protection, social programmes and social safety nets proved to be fundamental buffers against inequalities in mental health. Several actions have proven to be effective in this area, including measures to improve social protection, reduce income inequalities, and mitigate the impacts of unemployment.

To address the negative consequences of unemployment, active labour market programmes, including special programmes for unemployed young people and families, programmes to promote the employment of people with disabilities, and debt relief programmes should be implemented.

The response of the health system is critical. During and after economic recessions, it is fundamental to ensure the responsiveness and effectiveness of the mental health system. To attain this goal, mental health services that are closer to the populations and that facilitate the early identification of mental health problems and the implementation of integrated interventions should be strengthened. The latter is a crucial approach to tackle the mental health problems that more often worsen in periods of economic instability, such as depression, suicidal behaviour and heavy drinking. A special attention should also be dedicated to strengthening the network of community-based mental health services, promoting the integration of mental health in primary care, and enhancing the coordination between mental health services and social care.