European Psychiatry - Volume 33 - March 2016

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24th European Congress of Psychiatry
Joint symposium
Symposium: Europe meets Asia – commonalities,
differences and future perspectives on
postgraduate training in psychiatry – Joint
symposium with AFPA
JS01
The Asian perspective
S. Kanba
Kyushu University, Neuropsychiatry, Fukuoka, Japan
The 1990s saw an inexorable wave of globalization. This came as
a massive jolt to the culture of Japan, which until then had been
in a state of balance and stability. However, unlike the West, in
Japan this economic globalization is not a manifestation born of
individualistic value systems and socioeconomic systems that had
previously been in place. The spirit that was imported togetherwith
economic globalizationwas not mature individualism. At the risk of
overstating the case, Japan went too far in ripping apart the com-
plex, intricate interpersonal relations that had been in place and
moving toward the individualism.
I will explain that the relationship between culture and the mind
takes the form of a cooperative organization. The relationship
between culture and the brain therefore also takes the form of a
cooperative organization. Culture has a top-down influence even
on simple visual perception.
I will state that the phenomenon of the depressive state generally
known as “modern depression” occurring in epidemic proportions
can be explained in terms of a loss of etiquette due to cultural
intermingling as well as cultural affordance. Public opinion tends
toward the argument of whether or not those who have sunk into
this depressive state simply want to slack off. However, from the
point of view of psychiatry, it is more important to consider the
fact that while manifestations and popular names may differ, men-
tal disorders will continue to develop in the future, regardless of
the era, and we need to cultivate a better understanding of their
structure. The essential challenge in this respect is the merging of
cultural psychology and cultural neuroscience.
Disclosure of interest The author has not supplied his declaration
of competing interest.
JS02
The trainee perspective
M. Phanasathit
Department of Psychiatry, Thammasat University, Pathumthani,
Thailand
In Asia, while the postgraduate training in psychiatry employs the
World Psychiatric Association (WPA) core training curriculum for
psychiatry as a standard course, some adjustment to the course is
required for the unique demographic and sociocultural character-
istics of its region.
From the small group work in the 14th course for the academic
development of psychiatrists (CAD), organized by the Japan Young
Psychiatrists Organization (JYPO) in 2015, young psychiatrists form
Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand
agreed that the core psychiatric curriculummust include both gen-
eral and psychiatric knowledge which are fundamental to clinical
practice and continuous learning. General knowledge consists of
knowledge management, academic skills, epidemiology, research
methodology and statistics, evidence-based medicine, bio-ethic
and medicolegal issues, professionalism, and medical anthro-
pology, while psychiatric knowledge incorporates basic science,
diagnostic assessment skills, etiopathogenesis, pharmacological
and non-pharmacological treatments, disease prognosis, and men-
tal health promotion and prevention. Moreover, the curriculum for
junior psychiatric residents has to be composed of courses fromvar-
ious departments that encourage them practice in holistic care and
multidisciplinary approach including emergency medicine, inter-
nal medicine, neurology, pediatrics, community based medicine,
anesthesiology, radiology and palliative care. For senior psychiatric
residents, the training program should consist of in-depth psychi-
atric knowledge, general psychotherapy concept and basic skills,
and free elective subjects.
Since Asia is different from Europe in terms of large population,
shortage of psychiatrists, aging society, racial and cultural diver-
sity, and high risk of natural disasters; the postgraduate training
in psychiatry in Asia should focus on the subjects regarding health
economy, geriatric psychiatry, cultural and trans-cultural psychi-
atry, ethnopsychopharmacology, disaster psychiatry and mental
health. Furthermore, the cooperation among Asian countries
should be promoted in order to initiate knowledge exchange and
research collaboration. These could contribute to the sustainable
advancement of Asian psychiatry and mental health in the future.
Disclosure of interest The author has not supplied his declaration
of competing interest.
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