A 2024 third-wave survey covering 16 of 17 Far East countries and self-governing areas found postgraduate child and adolescent psychiatry training in 75%, up from 59% in 2017, with specialty recognition also at 75%. Board certification was reported in only 44%, and support remained uneven.
Key findings
- New specialists emerged in Cambodia, Mongolia and Myanmar. Training existed in 12 of 16 areas and specialty recognition reached 75%; school consultation appeared in 83% of curricula and forensic psychiatry in 58%, while national guidelines, certification and institutional support varied greatly.
Why this matters globally
Disasters, outbreaks, displacement and violence affect children across borders. The workforce map can guide shared curricula, remote supervision and regional referral mechanisms for humanitarian mental-health response.
Thai researcher contribution
Chawanun Charnsi of Chiang Mai University's Department of Psychiatry represents Thailand in the multinational network and contributes Thai system data to the 12-year comparison.
Limitations to consider
Representative-reported data may differ in definitions, completeness and verification. Training or recognition counts do not directly measure quality, clinical capacity or per-capita distribution, and descriptive waves cannot identify which policies caused improvement.