European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees Exchange: Benefits to trainees and organisations

Abstract

Introduction

During my time in Gothenburg, I have spent my first week with the team on the emergency inpatient ward. During my second week in Sweden, I have visited inpatient assessment unit where in depth psychological and psychiatric evaluations can be conducted. My final day was spend in a secure state institution providing accommodation and care to young people at risk of absconding or presenting with challenging behaviours.

What did I learn

Through the participation in the program I was able to gain first-hand experience of different models of healthcare delivery and I intend to implement some of the positive ideas into the services in the UK. Similarly, I hope that the host organisation may benefit from hearing how care is provided in the UK.

During my trip to Sweden, it was the first time I had an opportunity to deliver a presentation to an international audience. This highlighted new challenges such as language barrier and lack of familiarity with jargon, systems and practices that we take for granted within the NHS. I have learnt from the experience and I have now a better idea how to improve my presentations in the future. I have gained a lot of confidence in my presentation skills by speaking in front of a large audience of clinicians that I have not met before.

Disclosure of interest

The author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.