The Danish Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Association was until 2000 a section within the adult psychiatric association. Child and adolescent services have been increasingly in demand through the last decades and although the number of practitioners is permanently growing, the resources never seem to be sufficient. BUP-DK presently counts 276 members (specialists and trainees) servicing a population of 5.7 million citizens with an increasing number of children of different ethnicity.
The main goal of the Danish Association is to promote child and adolescent psychiatry especially by promoting research in child and adolescent areas, to secure good training and education of child and adolescent psychiatrists and to work for the best possible psychiatric treatment for children and adolescents. Finally BUP-DK tries to increase the public awareness of child and adolescent psychiatry.
The specialist medical training for child and adolescent psychiatrists in Denmark consists of one year of introduction, followed by four years of specific training including rotations between children and adolescent, outpatient and inpatient services. The training includes two months of 'focused stay' in pediatric and adult psychiatric wards. Trainees are expected to perform independent research for a minimum of one month.
