The objective of this project is to identify future leaders of psychiatry and facilitate their professional development. This is being done through (1) the provision of training in professional skills; (2) supporting the establishment of a national and international networks of young psychiatrists involving, in particular, those in developing countries; and (3) support to projects for work that young psychiatrists undertake together.
Young psychiatrists – regardless of whether they are primarily engaged in research or clinical work – often lack the skills which would make it easier for them to obtain support for their work, to present the results of their research and communicate with others engaged in similar work elsewhere. They often feel isolated and frequently lose motivation for further learning and for scientific work.
The courses developed by AIMHP have a standard curriculum focusing on the acquisition of specific skills that can be useful for psychiatrists at the beginning and in the course of their career. The skills that are being developed include skills of presentations of scientific and other material, communication skills, negotiating skills, skills of chairmanship and leading groups, elementary research skills, skills of fund searching, and other skills selected in the light of information about the students and the countries in which they live and work. A brief description of the courses has been published.
Sartorius N (2013) Acquiring Leadership Skills: Description of an International Programme for Early Career Psychiatrists In: Bhugra D, Ruis P, Gupta S, editors. Leadership in Psychiatry, Wiley Blackwell, p. 226-232 (ISBN 978-1-119-95291-6).
Among the main features of the courses are their emphasis on practical issues, opportunities to interact with teachers (and other participants), active participation in training activities and the provision of specific advice about problems that the participants may bring forward.
The workshops last seven half days. Thy include topics such as “How to prepare a poster”, “How to review a paper”, “How to teach clinical skills”, “How to organize a symposium”, “How to write a curriculum vitae”, How to write a scientific paper”, “How to give a lecture, “How to write a letter to a collaborator abroad”, How to serve on a committee, “How to chair a meeting”, “How to select a topic for one’s research”, “How to research with little or no resources”, “How to participate in a multicentric research”, “How to present a proposal for funding”, “How to behave in an employment interview”, How to select instruments for the assessment of mental state”. A part of the workshops are left flexible so that they can be adapted to the specific needs of the participants.
The faculty of the workshops is usually composed of two or three teachers in addition to the Director of the program who also participates in the teaching. At least one of the teachers is usually from the country where the meeting is organized. As a rule, the teachers have an excellent international reputation. All teachers participate in the workshop throughout
In advance of the workshops all candidates receive a brief description of the program and an indication of what is expected from them during the workshop and in preparation for it. They may be sent some papers or books selected by the teaching faculty. The participants are expected to prepare a poster and a presentation on a topic of their choice. They are also invited to list topics that are of particular interest to them. These lists are used in fine-tuning the program of the course.
The participants are psychiatrists and sometimes other specialists who have completed their postgraduate training less than five years before the workshop’s date. Residents in psychiatry in the last year of their training are also admitted. They must have a good knowledge of English and be in the opinion of their peers and professional elders in their country of particular professional or scientific promise. Current or previous participation in research is seen as an advantage but is not a condition for acceptance.
In addition to a clearly demonstrable improvement of leadership and professional skills of the participants the courses have also led to continuing and collaborative contacts among the participants and to the development and implementation of joint projects. On occasion the participants in courses develop joint projects some of which resulted in publication, for example:
Over the years, some of the leadership courses were carried out in collaboration with other organizations, including the World Psychiatric Association and several of its national member societies, with the Brandenburg Academy of Science in Berlin and with a number of universities. In some instances, the courses have become a regular activity of the institutions in which they were first held. Thus the University of Berlin Charité, carried out annual summer schools for 12 years, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, in Bengaluru (India) carries an annual course mainly involving students from South East Asian countries and the Japanese Young Psychiatrists has organization holds an annual courses on Academic Development of Young Psychiatrists: until now 20 of them. Professor Sartorius directed these courses carried out in collaboration with other teachers.
Support for the courses came from various sources, including universities, foundations and on occasion unrestricted educational grants by pharmaceutical companies. A brief description of the programme has been published in:
Sartorius N, (2013). Acquiring Leadership Skills: Description of an International Programme for Early Career Psychiatrists In: Bhugra D, Ruiz P, Gupta S. Leadership in Psychiatry. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., pp 226-232. Acquiring Leadership Skills
In all, AIMHP has until now organized more than 150 courses involving some two thousand psychiatrists early in their career and coming from over one hundred countries.
Bangalore, India, 4-5 January 1994
Kondolfingen, BE, Switzerland, 30 October – 1 November 1994
Bangalore, India, 2-4 January 1995
Warsaw, Poland, 7-10 October 1995
Sinaia, Romania, 12-14 September 1997
Santiago de Chile, 23-26 October 1997
Prague, Czech Republic, June 1999
Moscow, Russia, September 1999
Gerlachov, Slovakia, 11-14 December 1999
Berlin, Germany, 26-31 August 2001
Versailles, France, 12-16 July 2001
Seoul, Korea, 30 January-1 February 2004
Cesky Crumlov, Czech Republic, April 2004
Tokyo, Japan, March 2004
Berlin, Germany, May 2004
Zlatibor, Serbia**, 7-10 June 2004
Belgrade**, Yugoslavia, December 2004
Odawara, Japan, February 2006
Budapest, Hungary, February 2006
Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, 26-28 April 2006
Berlin, Germany, 31 October-4 November 2006
Mishima, Japan, 16-18 February 2007
Nairobi, Kenya, March 2007
Seoul, Korea, 18-21 April 2007
Hong Kong, China, 25-28 June 2007
Berlin, Germany, 31 August-5 September 2007
Cairo, Egypt, 26-30 January 2008
Osaka, Japan, 15-17 February 2008
Mexico City, Mexico, June 2008
Zagreb, Croatia, 7-10 July 2008
Berlin, Germany, 8-12 September 2008
Zagreb, Croatia, 31 January-3 February 2010
Kokura, Kitakyushu, 19-21 February 2010
Avigliano, Italy, 22-25 March 2010
St. Petersburg, Russia 2010, 12-15 June 2010
Berlin, Germany, 21-27 August 2010
Riccione, Italy, 13-16 October 2010
Istanbul, Turkey, 1-4 October 2010
Belgrade, Serbia, 8 December 2010
Tokyo, Japan, 10-18 February 2013
Belgrade, Serbia, 10-11 May 2013
San Stefano, Italy 30 March-2 April 2013
Bangkok, Thailand, 16-19 August 2013
Berlin, Germany, 26-30 August 2013
Bangalore, India, 9-11 January 2014
Kampala, Uganda, 3-5 February 2014
Casablanca, Morocco, 17-19 March 2014
Wroclaw, Poland, 30 March – 2 April 2014
Timisoara, Romania, 22-24 April 2014
Pescostanzo, Italy, 9-12 June 2014
Dhaka, Bangladesh, 27-29 June 2014
Berlin, Germany, 24-29 August 2014
Zagreb, Croatia, 26-28 September 2014
Cebu City, Philippines, 11-12 November 2014
Bangalore, India, 12-15 January 2015
Zagreb, Croatia, 26-29 January 2015
Fukuoka, Japan, 1-3 March, 2015
Beijing, China, 16-18 March 2015
Kiecany, Czech Republic, 23-26 April 2015
Chisinau, Moldova, 22-24 May 2015
Porto, Portugal, 19-22 June 2015
Baku, Azerbaijan, 2-5 November 2015
Berlin, Germany, 23-28 August 2015
Cape Town, South Africa, 4-6 September 2015
Athens, Greece, 28-30 September 2015
Baku, Azerbaijan, 2-5 November 2015
Bangalore, India, 14-16 January, 2016
Basel, Switzerland, 24-27 January 2016
Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 2016
Berlin, Germany, Summmerschool 2016
Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, 12-14 June 2016
Semarang, Indonesia, 21-24 August 2016
Basel, Switzerland, 16-18 January 2017
Bangalore, India, 2-4 February, 2017
Chiba, Japan, 17-19 February 2017
Abu-Ahabi, UAE, 24-26 March 2017
Tbilisi, Georgia, 10-12 April 2017
Vilnius, Lithuania, 30 April – 2 May 2017
Istanbul, Turkey, 27-29 June 2017
Berlin, Germany, 28 August – 1 September 2017
Banjarmasin, Indonesia, 4-6 September 2017
Prague, Czech Republic, 25-27 September 2017
Zagreb, Croatia, 16-18 December 2017
Basel, Switzerland, 10-12 January 2018
Bangalore, India, 1-3 February 2018
Melbourne, Australia, 28 February-1 March 2018
Doha, Qatar, 27-29 March 2018
Vienna, Austria, 4 April 2018
Zagreb, Croatia, 22-28 April 2018
Casablanca, Morocco, 12-14 July 2018
Berlin Summerschool 26-31 August, 2018 rev
Athens, Greece, 12-14 October 2018
Yangon, Myanmar, 25 October 2018
Jakarta, Indonesia, 11-13 November 2018
Tbilisi, Georgia, Leadership and Professional Skills Course, 6-8 December 2018
Zagreb, Croatia, 15-18 December 2018
Basel, Switzerland, 9-11 January 2019 Winter SchoolR
NIMHANS Bangalore India 31 January-2 February 2019
London, GB, 6-9 February 2019
Osaka, Japan, 12-17 February, 2019 18th CADP_R1
Sydney, Australia 19-21 February 2019
Zagreb, Croatia 10-13 April 2019
Moscow, Russia, May 17-20 , 201
Vienna, Austria, 7-10 July 2019
Berlin summer school Participants 2019, 1-6 September 2019
Barcelona Leadership course 2019, 20-23 November 2019
Bangalore India, 8th Leadership and Professional Skills Course for Early Career Psychiatrists, 30 January – 1 February 2020
Virtual – Chiba, Japan, The 1st JYPO Online International Networking Meeting, 12-13 February 2021
Virtual – Sofia, Bulgaria, Leadership and Professional Skills Course, 4-6 June 2021