Dear Colleagues,
First of all, for those trainees whom I did not have the pleasure of meeting personally at the recent EFPT Forum in Antwerp, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Teresa Gomez Alemany, from Barcelona, Spain. I am a psychiatry trainee, currently in my second year of the General Psychiatry residency program in Benito Menni Hospital, Barcelona. My major professional interests lie in psychotherapy, transcultural psychiatry and of course, clinical research to further our knowledge and understanding of the tools available to us in psychiatry.
I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for appointing me as the new Child and Adolescent (CAP) representative. It gives me great pleasure not only to form part of such a strong team of highly motivated and capable CAP trainees, but to lead the CAP Working Group. I have already seen brilliant ideas brought to the table during the EFPT Forum and I look forward to working together to bring us all closer to the future of psychiatry that we all long for.
I believe that the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist represents a pillar of the multidisciplinary team; one who aims to promote the wellness of our patients, as well as provide essential support for their parents and families. We, as CAP, provide quality care for young people at a very vulnerable period of their lives. Young people are constantly learning about themselves and their environment. During the development of attachment behaviour and the shaping of their personality, they can also find themselves suffering potentially devastating disorders. Therefore, as trainees, we need to be committed to our continuing professional and personal development, to ensure all our patients receive the highest quality psychiatric care that is available. In my opinion, proactive personal and professional reflection plays a vital role in our training; recognising each patient as unique with his or her own personal history, context and psychology. This involves considering alternative viewpoints with senior doctors and the invaluable shared experiences of peer support, to allow us to transform the daily routine into a constant challenge of self-improvement. This is not a new paradigm. This is what the EFPT offers us: a vital opportunity to collaborate with other trainees from 35 different countries, each with its own cultural and professional background, working towards common goals. The EFPT unites us and provides us with an invaluable cross-cultural social network, keeping us all at the forefront of international psychiatry.
As the new CAP representative of this coming year, I strongly encourage you to take advantage of all the EFPT offers you, sharing your thoughts, your clinical and personal experiences of psychiatry training, and collaborate as a team. This will enable us to develop creative projects to reach our goal: competent, compassionate and capable Child and Adoslescent Psychiatrists of the future.
If you would like to join the CAP WG, or have any suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, I will be delighted to assist you: cap-wg@efpt.eu
Teresa Gómez Alemany
EFPT CAP representative
Psychiatry Trainee in Benito Menni Hospital
Barcelona, Spain