Greetings from… Portugal

Each newsletter we introduce one of the many European psychiatry trainee associations to you. This time our colleagues in Portugal wrote about their work and country:

Since its inception in 2005, the Portuguese Association of Psychiatric Residents (APIP) has been an active voice in promoting and defending the interests of every medical resident in Psychiatry.

It is an organization born of the strong need of cooperation and unity between residents always with the awareness that by organizing as an association, psychiatric residents could gain a voice not otherwise heard.

Our non-profit organization is led by 9 psychiatric residents from around the country that are elected every two years in a general assembly, with the major goal of bettering the educational opportunities during our residency by fostering cultural and scientific activities and maintaining contact and various protocols with major national and international entities.

We are currently involved in various programs and workshops that intend to give the basis of psychiatric knowledge to our fellow colleagues, integrating and working with specialists in the field and with our community in order to help provide a greater understanding of this beautiful and challenging area of work that is mental health.

Portugal is home to friendly people, great weather and delicious food, but most of all it is a place where we all work to improve the lives of each other. In addition, there are rumors that JK Rowling was inspired by our culture to write the famous Harry Potter saga. Something that the author recently denied, but that we believe to be true (or we really want it to be so). Also, we have Ronaldo.

To finish this off, we just want to know one thing, what book was inspired by the culture of your country?