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Clinical psychiatric practice should be intricately linked with research work. Although psychiatric trainees and early career psychiatrists (ECPs) are in the frontline of clinical services, little is known about how much access they have to research opportunities. A semi-structured questionnaire of 35 questions—exploring research goals achieved, facilitators and barriers as well as personal context—was sent to psychiatric trainees and ECPs across Europe. The survey was disseminated through the local committees of the main professional psychiatric societies in Europe. A total of 258 individuals working in 34 European countries participated. The majority (69.8%) were psychiatric trainees within training in adult psychiatry. Most participants (69.0%) were highly interested in research, but faced major obstacles toward their research activities, such as lack of time and funding. They were highly satisfied with mentoring and publishing papers. Only half of the participants, however, had already published a scientific article, and only a few have been able to contribute to randomized clinical trials (20.9%). A large proportion of participants (87.2%) reported to conduct research after or during a mixture of working hours and after working hours. Only one tenth ever received a grant for their work. These findings highlight that the key barriers for the performance of research are lack of time and funding. Psychiatric trainees and ECPs are motivated to perform research but need support and regular opportunities. OA Förderung 2021

As a part of the mHealth Psycho educational Intervention Versus Antipsychotic-Induced Side Effects (mPIVAS) project (www.psylog.eu), we developed the mobile application (PsyLOG) based on a mobile “Smartphone” technology to monitor antipsychotic-induced adverse effects, available in six languages. To test the applicability of the PsyLOG app in our clinical practice, we performed a clinical trial among up to 80 early psychosis patients in Croatia, Germany and Serbia. Patients were grouped according to methods of treatment (PsyLOG app vs. treatment as usual (TAU)) and followed-up over six months in four points regarding psychopathology, side effects and the adherence to treatment using standardized psychiatric scales. Our results showed that the PsyLOG group detected significantly more side effects compared to the TAU group during follow up, while no differences in psychopathology and adherence between the groups were observed. Furthermore, the PsyLOG group detected more side effects using the PsyLOG than it was observed using the standardized psychiatric scales. Considering its efficacy and shorter detection period in assessing side effects compared to standardized psychiatric scales, the PsyLOG can be a useful tool for clinical practice, especially when patients are treated with combined therapy (and thus having more diverse side effects), and for clinical research. We will also show our preliminary results from a new cross sectional trial among patients treated with combinations of antipsychotics and other drugs in a naturalistic setting followed up to one month with PsyLOG.

Introduction: Sleep disorders have a proven association with psychiatric illness. Therefore, psychiatrists require appropriate training in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders. To date, there is no data available in Europe on training in sleep medicine for early career psychiatrists (ECP). Aims: To identify the availability of training in sleep medicine for psychiatric trainees across Europe and to establish how confident doctors feel in treating these conditions. Methods: European-wide survey carried out by the European Psychiatric Association (EPA)-Early Career Psychiatrists Committees. Representatives of ECPs from each participating European country filled in a questionnaire about availability of training in sleep medicine in their country. ECPs were also invited to fill out a questionnaire at the EPA congress in Nice in 2013. Results: 55 participants from 27 European countries responded. Only 24% had sleep medicine training mandatorily included in their national training curriculum. A majority (60%) felt that the quality of the training they received was either average or below average. 88% felt either very or fairly confident in treating insomnia. However, when asked to select the correct management options for insomnia from a provided list of six, only 19% and 33% of respondents chose the two correct options. Conclusions: There is a clear gap between the level of confidence and the clinical judgements being made to treat insomnia among European ECPs. There is a definite need to improve the availability and structure of sleep medicine training for psychiatric trainees in Europe.

Aim. To evaluate burnout syndrome and related factors among psychiatry residents in 24 countries worldwide. We report data from Croatia and France, the first two to complete the study. Methods: The BoSS online questionnaire collects data on demographics, education, work circumstances, The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS), The Areas of Worklife Survey, The Patient Health Questionnaire and The Suicide Ideation and Behaviour Questionnaire. Results: Study sample consists of 224 residents – 54 from Croatia (54% response rate) and 136 from France (34.1%). They both showed moderate level of burnout syndrome, while the Croats had significantly stronger feelings of professional efficacy. Being single, fewer weekly working hours and vacation days, and higher workload significantly predicted higher emotional exhaustion and higher cynicism. Conclusion. Our findings indicate moderate level of burnout among psychiatry residents and its strong association with inadequate working conditions.