Abstract

The topic of this paper is a presentation of competencies for the profession of psychiatrist in the revised document of the European Framework for Competences in Psychiatry (EFCP) of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) - Section of Psychiatry. It describes the seven roles of physician-psychiatrist with the associated competencies that each psychiatrist needs to acquire to do his or her job according to high quality standards. It includes the following roles: a psychiatric expert/clinical decision maker, communicator, collaborator, team leader, scholar, advocate, and a professional. The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of the importance of acquiring competencies, especially the need to assess the achieved competencies in all of the seven roles of psychiatrists, to compare the list of competencies in the current programme of specialization in psychiatry in Croatia with the EFCP list, and to determine whether there is a need to revise the Croatian programme of specialization in psychiatry. We have compared the list of competencies recommended in the EFPC with the list of competencies listed in the Croatian specialization programme in psychiatry. The main results established a difference in the approach to the classification of competencies. The EFPC describes the competencies using the model of seven roles of psychiatrists, whereas the Croatian list of competencies relates competencies to the fields of psychiatry. A difference from the recommended methods to measure the achievement of competencies has also been found. The comparison of the EFCP with the list of competencies in the Croatian specialization programme in psychiatry indicates the need to improve the Croatian programme, especially in terms of assessing the achieved competencies. One can use the EFCP in the analysis and audit of all EU specialization programmes in psychiatry, which can help in the harmonization of specialty training for psychiatrists at the EU level.