Welcome to the EPA 2022 Interactive Programme
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Fully Live with Live Q&A On Demand (available from 4 June) ECP Session Section Session EPA Course (Pre-Registration Required)
Ask the Expert Sessions with Voting Live TV Product Theatre
Impact of COVID-19 on Physical and Mental Health of Health Care Workers
Challenges and Opportunities in Mental Health Research During the Pandemic
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All healthcare had to rapidly adjust to covid-19; remote options were implemented at pace and unnecessary face to face contact minimised, with infection prevention and control taking primacy. Many research projects were suspended and some clinical researchers moved to frontline care. For psychiatric academic trainees, covid-19 affected recruitment, and risked delaying work on research degrees such as PhDs, potentially beyond the timeframe of a grant, leading to funding uncertainties. Those valuable casual conversations with senior colleagues in the café stopped and with many schools closed, parents had extra pressures on their time at home.
In the UK the government prioritised “Urgent Public Health” (UPH) studies and took a co-ordinated approach to research approvals and recruitment strategies, contributing to the success of covid-19 platform trials such as RECOVERY. While initially only a minority of UPH studies were open to people with serious mental illnesses, now the effect of the pandemic on mental health has become a research priority. In parallel, service planners recognised the value of emergent research in informing decision-making creating de facto learning health systems.
While covid-19 interrupted research as we knew it, it necessitated new ways of working, some of which will persist. These included an increase in remote data collection, allowing greater access to research opportunities for potential participants, along with more efficient research approval and evidence dissemination pathways.
Early Career Psychiatrists in Europe During COVID-19 Outbreak: Results of The EPA ECPC-EFPT Cross-Sectional Survey
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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives and work of Early Career Psychiatrists (ECPs). Some had to revamp their professional life, start using telepsychiatry without prior training, change their workplace during the pandemic, or were quarantined. Others were not able to complete their training or take obligatory courses as planned.
The aim of the study was to understand the impact of the pandemic on education and professional development, working conditions and wellbeing of ECPs, as well as their attitude to telepsychiatry.
The anonymous, 24-question cross-sectional survey was conducted by the European Psychiatric Association Early Career Psychiatrists Committee (EPA ECPC) and the Task Force on Meetings and Associations with the collaboration and support of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT). 517 participants from 39 different countries (member states of the Council of Europe) have been included in the analysis. Statistical analyses have been performed. Final results will be presented during the symposium.
Identifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ECPs will help us better prepare for similar events in the future, equip them with the necessary skills and provide them with the right support.
COVID-19 and CAP: What Changed in Training and Practice for Early Career Child/Adolescent Psychiatrists?
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Covid-19 pandemic has affected early career psychiatrists (ECP) and psychiatric trainees significantly. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) specialists and trainees have a particular position in the pandemic as redeployments to adult units are possibly more disorientating for these psychiatrists normally working in paediatric settings. Redeployments and abrupt but potentially permanent changes to the delivery of service and training are explored via the Covid-19 and Early Career Psychiatrists survey which was prepared and disseminated by the EPA ECP Committee and the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT). The CAP related data from the survey will be discussed in this presentation and the implications on the future of CAP will be considered with particular emphasis on training.