Why become a host institution for the GEP? Interview with Dr. Riboldi and Dr. Žaja
The Gaining Experience Programme is an EPA initiative, meant to send talented Early-Career Psychiatrists (ECPs) from across Europe on an observership in another country. The objective is to make them engage in enriching opportunities to advance their expertise and contribute to the psychiatric field.
Each year, those placements are possible thanks to the host institutions participating. The EPA had the opportunity to interview Dr Nikola Žaja from the University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče in Zagreb, Croatia, and Dr Ilaria Riboldi from the Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori in Monza, Italy. They shared with us the reasons they decided to join the Gaining Experience Programme and how those exchanges can greatly benefit both the hospitals and the Early-Career Psychiatrists.
Dr Ilaria Riboldi (Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori in Monza, Italy) shared:
“Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, is a large academic and research hospital and serves as the reference hospital for the University of Milano-Bicocca. Our decision to become a GEP host was closely connected to this academic and clinical identity.
We felt that our centre could offer early-career psychiatrists a valuable experience in a setting where patient care, training and research are closely interconnected. The GEP programme is an excellent opportunity to promote international exchange, compare different models of psychiatric care and strengthen collaboration among early-career psychiatrists across Europe.”.
The same reasoning applies to the University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapce. Dr Nikola Zaja said: “Today, University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče serves as a teaching base for many different faculties and as a national reference center for several areas of psychiatric treatment. The Hospital has been deeply involved in different exchange programs for many years and it was “natural” to be involved in this one, too. Vrapče Hospital is one of the few institutions that offers free accommodation and meals to its exchange doctors, which serves as the best possible proof of commitment to such programs.”.
The Gaining Experience allows ECPs to learn in a new, different environment, but it also benefits the host institutions themselves. Dr Zaja added “The primary benefit is the exchange of knowledge and perspectives. It forces us to reflect on our own routines, such as department layouts or therapeutic structures, through the eyes of a colleague coming from a completely different setting.”.
For the Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, it is also about training and research: “The wider impact has been the strengthening of our international and academic profile. As an IRCCS and a university-affiliated hospital, we are committed not only to clinical excellence, but also to training and research. Hosting a GEP placement contributed to this mission by promoting international networking, encouraging future collaborations and exposing residents and early-career psychiatrists in our unit to a broader European perspective. It helped me see my role not only as a clinician and researcher within my own institution, but also as part of a wider European psychiatric community.”
The Gaining Experience Programme is also an opportunity, for the host institution, to grow: “I consider serving as a host as a learning opportunity. It helps shape my professional development by improving my mentoring skills, growing my professional network and providing me with new opportunities for future collaborations”, expresses Nikola.
Read the full interviews here:
– Interview – Dr Ilaria Riboldi
– Interview – Dr Nikola Žaja
