Fostering a Global Community of Medical Students and Educators at the 25th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry

Promoting psychiatry among medical students is an integral part of the World Psychiatric Association’s (WPA’s) Triennium Action Plan 2023-2026. In this regard, the Medical Student Essay Competition is key to fostering mental health interest among global medical students. This year’s essay competition theme centered on “Reducing inequalities and promoting inclusion to improve mental health.” The response to the 2025 essay competition was robust, with entries from 38 countries, 93 institutions, and 6 continents. The selection process remained rigorous, following an adapted version of the Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition (HCGEC) criteria which judged focus, clarity, academic rigor, structure, clarity, originality, and the ability to synthesize complex information. The Judging panel included thirteen WPA zonal representatives (Drs. Gary Chaimowitz, Chawanun Charnsil, Valsamma Eapen, Kostas Fountoulakis, Vinay Kumar, Amine Larnout, Ramune Mazaliauskene, Nikolay Negay, Bernardo Ng, Yong Chon Park, Rodrigo Rojas, Thelma Sanchez, Johannes Wancata), as well as Professor Muhammad Waqar Azeem, Chair of the WPA Special Interest Group on Medical Students, Professor Howard Liu, Co- Chair of the WPA Special Interest Group on Medical Students, and Professor Danuta Wasserman (President, WPA).

The judging panel was deeply impressed by the innovative approaches and comprehensive analyses presented in the essays. The submissions demonstrated a profound understanding of how mental health intersects with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal #10. The increasing global interest in the competition underscores the critical need to integrate mental health into broader discussions on sustainable development. It is essential to engage medical students globally to build a healthier and more equitable world.

The WPA selection committee extends its congratulations to the 10 finalists (in alphabetical order by last name): Miguel Angelo Castro (Brazil), Muhammad Noor Ul Huda (Pakistan), Elijah Kawinga (Zambia), Aksa Mumtaz (Italy), Alexis Gonzalez Ortis (Mexico), Ayomide Emmanuel Oyekan (Nigeria), Asmi Shekhar (India), Lucy Stiles (United Kingdom), Nandera Ketra Venesa (Uganda), and Jasmine Wu (Canada). The two winners of the competition were Lucy Stiles from King’s College London, United Kingdom and Elijah Kawinga from the Mulungushi University School Medicine and Health Sciences, Livingstone, Zambia. The winners were acknowledged by Professor Danuta Wassermann (President WPA), Professor Thomas Schulz (President Elect WPA) and Professor Muhammad Waqar Azeem (Chair WPA SIG on Medical Students) at the opening ceremony of the 25th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry in Prague.

Medical Student Session at the 25th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry

This is the 4th consecutive year that the WPA Special Interest Group on Medical Students organized a special session for medical students at the WPA World Congress of Psychiatry. It was chaired by Professor Howard Liu and co-chaired by Professor Muhummad Waqar Azeem in collaboration with the WPA ECP Section and international psychiatry and medical education leaders. Professor Danuta Wasserman (President WPA ) and Professor Afzal Javed (Immediate Past President WPA) gave the opening remarks. Local hosts, Dr. Michal Patarák (President of the Slovak Psychiatric Association) and Dr. Tomáš Kašpárek (President of the Czech Psychiatric Association) shared principles about mentorship. As in past years, the program was designed as an interactive discussion among medical students and faculty facilitators on career goals, strategies to identify mentors, and how to thrive in training. More than 100 medical students participated in the session, primarily from medical schools from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and numerous other countries. This year we have strong showing of medical students at the 2025 WPA World Congress as evidenced by medical students registration from 52 countries. Dr. Kašpárek, Dr. Patarák, and Ilana Eliav, WPA Scientific Program Manager, were integral in coordinating the outstanding medical student attendance at the session.

Faculty mentors for the session included Professor Howard Liu (Co-Chair of the WPA SIG, USA), Professor Muhammad Waqar Azeem, (Chair of the WPA SIG, Qatar), Professor Tomáš Kašpárek (President Czech Psychiatric Association, Czech Republic), Dr. Michal Patarák (President, Slovak Psychiatric Association, Slovakia), Dr. Khalid Bazaid (WPA SIG member, Canada), Professor Lorin Scher (WPA SIG member, USA), Dr. Anusha Lachman (Immediate Past President of South African Society of Psychiatrists & WPA SIG member, South Africa), Professor Subodh Dave (Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, WPA SIG member, UK), Professor Tami Benton (President, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, USA), Professor Warren Ng (Immediate Past President, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, USA), Ms. Heidi Fordi (CEO AACAP, USA), Dr. Lamia Jouini (WPA ECP Section Chair, Switzerland), Dr. Alex Vicente Spadini (WPA ECP Section Co-Chair, Brazil), Dr. Rick Wolthusen (WPA ECP Section Secretary, USA), Dr. Sophia Sánchez-López (ECP Chair Mexican Psychiatric Association, Mexico), Andrés Román-Jarrín (WPA ECP Section, Spain), Dr. Linda Nyamute (WPA ECP Section, Kenya). Overall, the program was very well received and led to ongoing conversations and resources about fostering careers for the next generation of physicians and psychiatrists.

Contact: If you would like to participate in the WPA SIG on Medical Students, please e-mail Professor Muhammad Waqar Azeem (mazeem@sidra.org) and Professor Howard Liu (hyliu@unmc.edu).