Psychiatric training can be a frustrating experience: You cannot tailor your own curriculum according to your needs, you have little influence over who your teachers are and – despite endless rounds of negative course evaluations – an improvement in the quality of teaching just never seems to materialize. Being an EFPT Board member feels just the opposite: Working together with enthusiastic colleagues on projects in which you believe, instills a strong sense of ownership and satisfaction with psychiatry. It also teaches you the beauty of European cooperation: We are very different in our backgrounds and working styles, but we can use that to widen our perspectives and create a better outcome for everyone. For me it was a great privilege to serve on the EFPT Board and I am deeply grateful for all the experiences and friends I have made through that opportunity.

Florian Riese, EFPT President 2012-13