Dear Colleagues and Friends,
It is with great honour and pleasure that we welcome you to Berlin for the 17th World Congress of Psychiatry to be held from 8–12 October 2017.
The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) is committed to improving the health care of psychiatric patients through raising the standards of training, education and clinical practice by providing added value. This Congress will be an excellent opportunity to share academic and clinical developments and research and to build on social interactions and support each other.
Needless to say, in the current period of the 21st century psychiatry is at a point where biological, social and psychological factors are changing rapidly, and their interaction provides us with opportunities to take the profession forward. Apart from being the most complex, intellectually stimulating and rewarding medical speciality, psychiatry is at a stage where we are beginning to understand more about brain changes and their impact on an individual’s functioning. In addition, we are starting to better understand cultural and social factors and how they provide possible explanations for our understanding of our patients’ experiences and those of their families.
Several countries across the globe provide innovative services in spite of limited resources. This congress provides a showcase for such developments and how we can learn from each other by sharing experiences and lessons. This World Congress is an ideal opportunity to take stock of the state of psychiatry in the 21st century and the direction of future developments.
We look forward to seeing you in Berlin.
Dinesh Bhugra, WPA President (2014–2017) and Arno Deister, DGPPN President (2017–2018)
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