Fellow colleagues, trainees, peers and friends,

It is my honor to welcome all of you to the 32nd EFPT Forum, a platform where psychiatric trainees across Europe gather together to share our ideas, training experience and aspirations for the future of psychiatry.

Firstly, a sincere thanks to our dedicated organizing committee, led by Dr Liene Vitola, Chair of the Organizing Committee, for their hard work over the last two years. They have put together a thoughtful four-day programme of interesting plenary sessions, workshops and social activities. Let us not forget that all of our committee members are full-time clinicians and trainees, so taking on the job of organizing a forum for over 150 members despite a full work-training schedule is certainly not an easy feat! A big thank you to all of you!

My own journey in EFPT started in Malta two years ago, when I participated in the forum as a delegate from Ireland. I was impressed by the international participation at the forum, it was a melting pot of culture and diversity. I recall having meaningful conversations with delegates across Europe about their training conditions, experiences and challenges. Some conversations led me to reflect on my own training back in Dublin and brought me face to face with the inequality that exists in psychiatric training between European countries. These conversations spurred me to run for the presidency of EFPT and contribute actively to the organization. It also inspired the theme for this year’s forum: Advancing Equality, Diversity, Inclusion.

Some of you may ask: why Riga for the forum? The answer is simple - we wanted to have a forum that was accessible and affordable to all participants. While the majority of our organising committee members are from Latvia, we also have committee members from Switzerland, the UK, France and Ireland. The diversity within the organizing committee made this forum a meaningful one, and through our contacts in different countries, we were able to continue to hold a four-day forum despite the current economic inflation, and bring together speakers from diverse backgrounds.

I hope this forum will be an inspiring, meaningful and memorable one for all of us as we continue to navigate our career as a psychiatrist. Let us all connect with each other and make long lasting friendships who we can turn to in our professional and personal lives.

Yours sincerely,

Kezanne Tong
EFPT President 2023-2024

Programme Congrès EFPT 2024