The recently established Indian Association of Psychiatry Trainees (IAPT) held its first event on 28 February 2021 to officially launch the association. During this important gathering, IAPT also announced a new initiative, the “Asian Federation of Psychiatry Trainees Interest Group (AFPTIG)”, which aims to support psychiatry trainees across Asia. Proposed by the IAPT President, Dr Sharad Philip, the initiative is fully supported by the WPA. At the event, WPA President, Professor Afzal Javed emphasised the “role that numerous WPA activities play in supporting the promotion of psychiatry training, as well as how they improve access and opportunities, particularly in Asia”.
The event was also attended by two former WPA Presidents, Professors Norman Sartorius and Dinesh Bhugra who both gave insightful presentations.
Professor Sartorius highlighted areas for psychiatry training in tackling the tasks ahead, while Professor Bhugra spoke on the topic of academic and professional burnout, and how peer-led initiatives can best address them.
As part of the event's packed programme, there were two discussion panels covering the topics "Psychiatry Training" and "Early Career Psychiatry". The panellists were trainee and early career psychiatrists from several countries across Asia. These informative discussions highlighted some important cross-country differences in 1) training programmes structure, 2) assessment methods, 3) time spent on various sub-specialties, and 4) routes for continued academic and early professional growth.
The event was extremely well attended, with nearly 500 registrants from 30 countries, and feedback was overwhelmingly positive with all attendees happy to share their opinions and experiences.
Video presentations from the event can be viewed on the IAPT YouTube channel.
Links
You can stay up-to-date on IAPT news and events here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IndianIapt?s=08
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iapt.iapt.9
You can join the Asian Federation of Psychiatry Trainees Interest Group by visiting the AFPTIG Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Asian-Federation-of-Psychiatry-Trainees-interest-group-110446497751625.
You may also write to - asianpsychiatrytraineesnecps@gmail.com to join the google group.
Author: WPA