[Medical student curriculum in psychiatry in Poland]

The author describes present medical student curricula in psychiatry in Polish medical schools based on the questionnaire sent to all the lecturers of the subject in Poland. The questionnaire contained questions concerning the schedule of lectures, seminars and classes (the list of topics) as well as the number of hours of the forms of activities like interpersonal training, discussion groups, internship, etc. We also asked on which year of studies the course in psychiatry took place. The questionnaire included our request to describe the level of integration of psychiatry and other pre-clinical and clinical subjects as well as to enclose a recommended reading list (handbooks and other items of literature). The last question dealt with the problem of assessment of lectures and classes by students. The results of the questionnaire reveal great differences in the curricula of psychiatry in various schools in Poland. The differences lie both in the courses and the number of hours devoted to teaching psychiatry (in most schools it was 120 hours or less). In 7 schools students learn psychiatry in the 6th i.e. the last year of their studies. In 2 schools lectures in psychiatry are given in the th year. In Kraków and Gdańsk the courses in psychiatry consist of 150 and 160 hours respectively. The author proposes unification of the curricula in psychiatry concerning both the number of hours of classes and lectures, and topics as well as introducing the diagnostic and classifying criteria ICD-10 (WHO) since Poland is going to join EU.