title: Psychiatry training in the United Kingdom--Part 1: a general overview.
abstract: In recent years there has been a strong trend of emigration of Greek medical doctors. The reason for this phenomenon is certainly multifactorial, but it has been greatly exacerbated due to the latest financial crisis. The United Kingdom is one of the most popular destinations amongst emigrating Greek psychiatric doctors, as reflected by official data and by the sheer volume of requests for information received by the United Kingdom Division of the Hellenic Psychiatric Association. There are many systemic and practical differences between the Greek and the United Kingdom health systems, which complicate training and further career decisions. These complex differences make it hard for psychiatric doctors to decide which steps to take, and often result in them making the "wrong" decision. These "wrong" decisions are very often the result of poor information or misinformation. For instance many doctors are confused about the equivalence of training and service grades between Greece and the United Kingdom, what a good portfolio means, or the significance of the MRCPsych exam. This information exists, sometimes in comprehensive ways on the internet, but for doctors who are not familiar with the system, finding this information can be a time-consuming and laborious task. Therefore, providing a starting point with realistic and useful information about psychiatric training and generally career progression in the United Kingdom to Greek psychiatric doctors has become very important. The United Kingdom Division of the Hellenic Psychiatric Association has decided to pick up the role of providing exactly that information. The first part of this two-piece paper provides a starting point for Greek doctors considering the move to the United Kingdom for training and/or work in psychiatry. Firstly, it gives a general overview of psychiatric training in the United Kingdom, and explains that the pragmatic equivalence between training stages between Greece and the United Kingdom often differs from the formal equivalence. It also explains the salient differences between the Greek and the United Kingdom's health systems and highlights some common pitfalls. Furthermore, it explains some career options psychiatric trainees and specialists can follow in the UK, including clinical and academic training and service posts. The second part of this paper explores in more detail the structure and inner workings of psychiatric training, again emphasising the important differences between the Greek and the United Kingdom's training systems, and highlighting those differences that may be useful to a transitioning doctor. This diptych is meant to be informative, not advisory, and thus is not meant to either encourage or discourage the migration of interested parties.
authors.affiliation: C1ST6 Forensic Psychiatry, West of Scotland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kasiakogia
authors.affiliation: University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Christodoulou
mesh_terms: D004501:Education, Medical; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D010820:Physicians; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D006113:United Kingdom