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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

Evolutionary Psychiatry Education: From Understanding to Clinical Practice

Teaching evolutionary psychiatry: from understanding to clinical application

Clinicians find evolutionary psychiatry conceptually valuable, particularly for case formulation and the normalization of distress, but exposure during training remains limited, and its translation into everyday practice remains unclear.

The study aims to evaluate the integration of evolutionary medicine and psychiatry into psychiatric training and their perceived clinical value through complementary studies. The presentation draws on a scoping review, studies examining medical students’ perspectives, a pre- and post-training evaluation, a cluster-randomized trial examining anxiety-related stigma, qualitative research with psychiatrists, and an evaluation of a practical workshop. Although the literature advocates evolutionary approaches and proposes curriculum content, few studies evaluate teaching that has been implemented. Findings from focus groups with eighteen psychiatry residents and specialists are presented under four themes. Participants find evolutionary psychiatry conceptually valuable, particularly for case formulation, the normalization of distress, and the integration of biological, psychological, and social perspectives. However, they report limited exposure during training and uncertainty about its relevance to everyday practice, noting that a crowded curriculum and limited faculty expertise constrain integration. The educational findings suggest that focused teaching is feasible and may increase engagement with evolutionary concepts and their perceived relevance. The presentation argues that translation into practice requires clinically grounded teaching, explicit links to assessment and case formulation, rigorous evaluation of educational outcomes, and faculty development across all career stages.

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