Training in psychiatry and psychotherapy in Germany.

In Germany, medical students need six years before they are allowed to work as medical doctors or before they begin their specialist training. The first two years are mostly devoted to basic training (e.g. anatomy, biochemistry, physiology). During the clinical years, only a limited time is devoted to psychiatry. In a compulsory psychiatry course, students learn the basics of diagnosis and therapy. This course with eight sessions of 4 h each and a final examination is similar throughout Germany. Additional courses vary greatly with regard to the time requirements. That means that 5—20% of the clinical training is devoted to psychiatry. In Hamburg, psychiatric training comprises eight seminars of 90min each, five times 90min of bedside teaching and the compulsory basic course. In addition, there are general seminars on psychosomatics, two times 90min, and three times 90min of bedside teaching. Over the last five to ten years at most universities, there is a certain tendency to increase the time devoted to psychiatry. After five years, the students spend four months in their last year in internal medicine, four months in surgery, and four months in another specialty. Around 2—5% of the students opt for psychiatry.