Championing trainee and early career psychiatric research

Early career psychiatrists, trainees and medical students all have the potential to make valuable contributions to psychiatric research. It is imperative that health and training systems provide opportunities for junior staff to participate in research, particularly because fostering such cultures tend to achieve better outcomes for patients. However, most medical specialist colleges in Australia and New Zealand do not require scholarly projects or research-related assessments as part of their formal examination and training process, and there is a general lack of adequate supervision of research projects and appropriate levels of research training.