Editorial

The Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría fulfills once again its annual commitment of delving deeply into a specific subject through a supplement which in this case is dedicated to Education in Psychiatry.

Not long ago, it was still usual for some teachers to describe their academic beginnings with the sentence, "One night, I went to bed being a resident and next day I awoke being a teacher"; fortunately, this situation has changed to the point that virtually every professional understands the need for following a pedagogical training before assuming teaching responsibilities.

Concepts such as curriculum, teaching, learning, instructive material, evaluation, educational research, learning to learn, lifelong learning and many others, have found a place in academic jargon and activities. Authors participating in this supplement contibute to the development of several such concepts through: Description of the main milestones in the formation of specialists in Colombia; synthesis of contributions made by neurosciences, particularly Eric Kandel's, for understanding the learning process and its biological correlations; innovative teaching-learning strategies including the use of simulated patients, virtual patients and sophisticated software programs; development of educational competences with emphasis on educational research; standarization of the system of academic credits so as to allow student mobility; evaluation of learning and of other variables in the educational process; ethics as a reference framework serving as the guide light for the whole academic process, and; the presentation of related works, among others.

It is impossible to try and encompass all of the specific subjects covered by education in psychiatry but we do hope that the contents of this supplement shall be continuously enriched by new articles published in the coming issues of the Revista. Of particular interest are articles contributing to: The consolidation of the resident's role as a post-graduate student fulfilling public assistance functions that contribute to her/his formation; the compliance of legislation in force limiting the duration of teaching-assistance shifts due to the negative consequences of sleep deprivation observed in health personnel; the effective sharing of results from discussions requiring proposals for changing the duration of the formative process, the competences to be considered, the evaluation criteria applicable to academic and accreditation programs of academic units offering them, among other aspects.

Historically, the Colombian Association of Psychiatry has contributed to education in Colombia through participation in the organization of national meetings for medical education since the end of the 1950s and, more recently, through meetings of directors of post-graduate courses in psychiatry which allowed that which no other Colombian medical association has achieved, i.e., the establishment of commitments focused upon a nuclear curriculum, as well as on agreements regarding minimum competences required for psychotherapy, collaborative teaching & research efforts, academic interchange, etc. This supplement, devoted to education in psychiatry, constitutes a new contribution aimed at renewing and maintaining the professionalizing interest in the formation of specialists in psychiatry.

Gerardo Campo-Cabal
Guest Editor
gercampo@univalle.edu.co