Modern educational programs for specialization in psychiatry should follow the developments in psychiatricModern educational programs for specialization in psychiatry should follow the developments in psychiatricscience, both in the part of acquired knowledge about mental disorders and their treatment, aswell as in the part of clinical practice in the diverse spectrum of modern psychiatric services. In Greece,the institutional framework for psychiatric training during specialization has yet to modernize and conformto European standards. For the moment, it is covered by a 1994 Presidential Decree, which brieflydescribes the time of specialization in psychiatry and the duration of clinical practice in the relevanteducational subjects. This study presents a comparative analysis of training in the specialty of Psychiatryin two distinct periods (2000 vs 2014). Already by the year 2000, psychiatric training showed many structuralweaknesses. The areas of clinical experience, theoretical and psychotherapeutic training haveshown wide divergences among training centers, and limited potential for convergence with Europeanstandards under the existing framework. Important exceptions were certain university clinics, with thebulk of future psychiatrists in the country falling short of educational benefits. Fifteen years later andunder the burden of the consequences of the economic crisis, the institutional framework has not yetchanged, and the overall situation seems to have deteriorated dramatically. The number of training centersoffering full specialization and the number of psychiatrists who receive training increased in reverseproportion to the number of specialized psychiatrists employed in hospitals, which has been drasticallyreduced due to restrictive measures on staff recruitment. Almost all training indicators show deterioration,but mainly the area of theoretical training shows the most dramatic degradation. Nevertheless, itis noteworthy that nowadays several psychiatric clinics endeavor to develop training programs in conjunctionwith psychiatric services not under their own administration, a practice not provided for in thecurrent legislative framework. At the same time, there is an increase in the number of training centersthat adopt some statutory procedures to monitor and evaluate trainees during the training process. Thelong-term restrictions recorded however, reveal the difficulty hospitals and psychiatric clinics have indeveloping training programs responding to the full range of modern clinical and theoretical trainingin psychiatry independently and autonomously. The recent economic crisis in the country and the attemptsfor much needed administrational reforms, create now more than ever the appropriate conditionsfor a reform of the educational framework for specialization in psychiatry, taking into account nationalresources and future expectations for the mental health system of our country.

Key words: Psychiatric training, specialty, curricula, educational program, specialization, European requirements.

M. Margariti, Ch. Papageorgiou (page 111) - Full article (Greek)