The PhD course in ‘Early Psychosis’: the first step towards an
international training network
Paolo Fiori Nastro, Michol Consolazione, Marco Bensi, Paolo Girardi,
Massimo Biondi
PhD School’ ‘Early Intervention in Psychosis’, ‘Casa’
Sapienza, University of Rome, Department of Psychiatry, 16PhD School of
‘Casa’
Early Intervention in Psychosis, Sant’
Andrea
Hospital and ‘Sapienza’
Uni-
versity of Rome NESMOS Department, Rome, Italy
In 2009, the WPA Committee on Education stated that ‘. . . All curricula
for the training of psychiatrists and examinations for certifi
cation of psy-
chiatrists should include understanding of the theory and practical appli-
cation of early interventions in fi
rst-episode psychosis’ In 2008, for the fi
rst
time in Italy, at the ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome, we started the, course
on ‘Early intervention in Psychosis’. The aim of this course is: (i) to con-
solidate knowledge in one of the most innovative fi
eld of psychiatric
research; (ii) to contribute to the formation of an international research
network; (ii) to spread the knowledge derived from research on early
detection and early intervention. To avoid the stigma and to contribute for
radical changes in our mental health care system abundant, highly trained
and qualifi
ed researchers are a necessary condition especially when the
persistence of concepts which are based on unsustainable assumptions
interferes with the appropriate deployment of new convergent fi
ndings
derived from large multisite studies. Against the background of growing
competition at world level, we are sure that the development of an inter-
national network for researchers will be crucial to support a benefi
cial
circulation of researchers and their knowledg
