Developing and overseeing a fellowship in global mental health

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Investigator: Bibhav Acharya, MD

Location(s): Nepal

Description

 The UCSF Department of Psychiatry offers a two-year fellowship in Global Mental Health in partnership with the HEAL Initiative. The goal of this innovative and rigorous program is to train board-eligible/board-certified psychiatrists as leaders in clinical practice, capacity building, health systems strengthening and health services research in low-resource settings in the United States and abroad.

Core Competencies

§  Describe cultural expressions of illness and implement culturally appropriate treatments.

§  Utilize locally available resources, including limited/essential medications, to provide high-quality clinical care to address the local burden of mental illness.

§  Describe and implement a collaborative care model in two resource-poor settings.

§  Lead an interdisciplinary team of generalist health workers and psychosocial counselors for strengthening the mental health system and expanding access to health services.

§  Develop effective teaching skills to build the capacity of local health workers to care for the mentally ill using evidence-based protocols like the WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP).

§  Develop research skills in health services and implementation science to strengthen health systems.

§  Obtain clinical competence in managing common mental health conditions with clinical supervision for child, adolescent and geriatric populations.

§  Adhere to principles of ethical, equitable and reciprocal training and clinical practice.

§  Develop a career plan that incorporates global mental health work after completion of the fellowship.

Sponsors:

UCSF Department of Psychiatry

HEAL Initiative