Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined.
~ Samuel Goldwyn
Many would find this statement comical if it was not true. Why this fear of seeing a psychiatrist? Is it because we can read mind? Totally untrue, or is it because we are different? Possibly true. Contrary to what others may believe, psychiatrists are medical doctors having gone through a minimum of 9-10 years of training to assist those with mental illnesses. If he or she sub-specialises, add another 3-4 years. And that is the truth.
We wanted to start by introducing ourselves. The Early Career Psychiatrists Chapter of the Malaysia Psychiatric Association (ECP) are junior psychiatrists beginning their careers. This is often defined as being within the five years of becoming a specialist or they must be <40 years old. Thus, being young and dynamic we are passionate about what we do and hope to make a difference in our small way.
Why are we in existence? Among the ECP objectives to note are:-
- To create and support developments in the provision of psychiatric services in Malaysia.
- To prepare the transition of young psychiatry trainees to professional practice.
- To be a platform for discussion of psychiatric delivery issues.
- To establish a network of psychiatrists working with psychiatric services in the region and internationally.
- To groom leaders in psychiatry, training the mental health team’s human resources, upgrading knowledge and so on.
To us in ECP, one of the most important contributions that we can make is to give back to society. We do this by conducting activities and programs on awareness on mental health to the public, fighting stigma and empowering society with knowledge on mental health conditions.
We want to deliver knowledge and information about psychiatry in a fun way so that society may be able to understand what we want to deliver.
Collaboration is KEY and this joint venture with the Malaysian Medical Gazette is the start for a long lasting collaboration for many years to come.
To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.
~ William James
We sincerely hope that together we can help build a community that is healthy physically, mentally and emotionally.
Dr. Nazariah Aiza Harun
Vice President ECP representing the TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More)