The COVID-19 pandemic brought challenges to governments, healthcare systems (including,
mental healthcare services), clinicians and researchers in the EU and worldwide. A
range of neurological (e.g., brain fog, encephalitis, myalgia) and psychiatric (e.g.,
affective disorders, delirium, cognitive disturbances) complications of a novel nature
have been observed in patients during the acute phase of illness, which often persist
as a Long-COVID state for months after the primary recovery. The pandemic has progressed
to a psychodemic and syndemic, affecting communities with social distress, panic,
fears, increased home violence, and protest movements that derive from conspiracy
theories and hostile attitudes towards vaccination and lockdown measures. In response
to this complex scenario of major social changes, universities must face the need
to equip the new generation of doctors with novel special skills.The study course
(50 hours duration; 20 lectures, three webinars, three e-discussion forums, five local
seminars, two social events, three intermediate assessments and a final test for certification;
bilingual Russian/English hybrid format, information materials, video-content, interactive
web-page and social media) was developed by the team of the International Centre for
Education and Research in Neuropsychiatry (ICERN), and is unique for the EU. The course
integrates the most relevant data on SARS-Cov-2-related neuropsychiatry, and COVID-19'
pandemic impact on mental health and society, including assignment of the vulnerable
groups of students and healthcare professionals. The major topics covered during the
course are (i) Novel virus, (ii) Brain, (iii) Society. The project takes place originally
in Samara State Medical University. The ICERN Faculty includes academic staff from
France, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, invited speakers from the WHO Regional
Office for Europe and World Psychiatric Association (EU Zones) members, some of them
employed at ICERN by remote work contracts. The format of the educational process
for students is hybrid suggesting both remote and face-to-face events. Distant learning
participants and EU lecturers are to attend on-line via zoom platform, whereas local
participants and staff work face-to-face in the ICERN video-conference room. The course
is addressed to a broad audience of doctors, undergraduate and postgraduate students,
and researchers from EU wishing to upgrade their knowledge in the pandemic-associated
neuropsychiatry.The evaluation process supposes three intermediate assessments and
a final test for certification. On-line assessment is to be performed at the project
web-page - 10 randomly selected questions with scoring from 1 to 10 each. The Pass
Score is 70-100. At the end of the course all the participants receive certificates
of Samara State Medical University according to the ERASMUS policy book, as planned
in 2021.We formatted this course as essential for the target audience to improve their
resources of professional adaptability in the field of neuropsychiatry and mental
healthcare management during challenging times. The ICERN course in pandemic-related
neuropsychiatry is essential for early career health professionals and targets the
principles of "academia without borders" in the context of international medical knowledge
exchange. In the conditions of the changing social situation this educational content
is necessary for the young doctors to acquire the add-on skills on flexibility to
switch toward new professional approaches in the times of need. The long-term outcomes
in pandemic-related neuropsychiatry are still to be seen, though the first feedback
on the course content is already promising for the academic community.
