Psychiatric trainees: Swiss penknives for a cheap price?

Introduction Global trends in the nature of working conditions pose significant threats to the training of medical professionals, as a result of cuts in educational grants and the salaries of professionals in training. Psychiatric trainees are not exempt from these changes. Objectives To determine the current working conditions of psychiatric trainees and how they impact on their experience of training. Methods A semi-structured survey was distributed to all members of the European forum of psychiatric trainees. Responses were collected online from 34 participating countries. The respondents were representatives of national trainee associations. Data collection was completed between May and July 2016. Results Respondents reported that the most important issues affecting postgraduate training were firstly working conditions, then salary, psychotherapy training and supervision, respectively. The average official mandatory working hours for a trainee, including on call duty was reported to be on average 40.16 (± 10.14 hours per week). In reality, the time that trainees report working is more than 20% higher than official working hours (on average 49.08 ± 15 per week). There is an officially recognized minimum vacation period of 20 days in almost all countries, ranging up to a maximum of 40 days (mean: 26.93 ± 4.97, per year). Salaries demonstrate an even greater variation, ranging from 100 Euros (as in the case of Moldova), up to over 5000 Euros (as in the case of Germany or Switzerland) per month. Conclusion Psychiatric trainees often work longer than the officially recognized hours and their income varies considerably between countries, which have been identified as the two biggest challenges trainees face.