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

Over the past few decades, psychiatry and mental health sciences have reached several major goals. The importance of mental health and the huge contribution to the burden of disability produced by mental and neurological disorders has been recognized by all and most recently also by the United Nations. Treatment technology has developed and permits the effective management of most mental disorders. Progress has also been made in the recognition of human rights of people with mental illness and those who care for them. More has to be done in these areas but there are also new tasks that are before psychiatry. These include the addition of primary prevention of mental disorders to previous efforts to ensure secondary and tertiary prevention of mental health problems; the development of appropriate ways of work in order to cope with problems of comorbidity of mental and physical disorders; and a fundamental reorientation of training in psychiatry and related sciences.

Abstract Body

The future of psychiatry as a discipline (and as the main source of knowledge in the construction and functioning o mental health services) can best be grasped on the basis of an examination of the development of psychiatry over the past century in the light of current options for its functioning. Such an examination demonstrates that psychiatrists will have to expand their field of work to include the management of comorbidity of mental and physical disorders and public health approaches to the primary prevention of mental and other brain disorders. Their engagement in research will have to become restricted to psychopathology and participation in the formulation of hypotheses which will be tested in laboratory and field work;; and their involvement in teaching about mental health and illness will have to undergo a fundamental change in terms of content, methods and evaluation of effects of education which they will organize. The presentation will focus on the future tasks of psychiatrists in these areas