Education in Psychopathology in Europe: Results from a Survey in 32 Countries

The aim of the present paper is to assess the current status of training on psychopathology in Europe and to identify the unmet needs of training on psychopathology.

An online survey was carried out during the period July-December 2013. Forty-one representatives of early career psychiatrists of their national associations were invited to participate. Each respondent was asked to provide the collective feedback of the association rather than that of any of its individual officer or member.

Thirty-two associations returned the questionnaire out of the 41 contacted (response rate, 78%). All respondents recognized psychopathology as a core component of training in psychiatry. According to respondents, the primary aims of psychopathology are (a) to assess psychiatric symptoms (47%), (b) to understand patients' abnormal experiences (33%), and (c) to make nosographical diagnosis (20%). A formal training course in psychopathology is available in 29 out of the 32 surveyed countries. In most countries, (a) there is not a defined number of hours dedicated to psychopathology, (b) teaching is mainly theoretical, and (c) a structured training on psychometric tools is missing. At the end of the training, about half of trainees is not satisfied with received training in psychopathology.

According to European early career psychiatrists, there is the need to rethink training in psychopathology, which should be at the heart of training in psychiatry and the key element of psychiatric practice. Education in psychopathology is affected by several unmet needs, such as lack of appropriate training in the use of psychometric instruments, lack of supervision, and lack of practical skills.