Scotland Malawi
Mental Health Education Project
Conference Report
Saturday 6th September 2008
The Scotland Malawi Mental Health Education project hosted its first annual meeting on Saturday 6th September 2008 in Edinburgh. The project has delivered undergraduate education to Malawi medical students for the past three years. The purpose of the meeting was to showcase the work of the project over the three years since its inception, encourage recruitment of volunteers and draw on the expertise of the audience to plan the future of the project. In total 45 people attended the day. Attendees included psychiatrists from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and Dumfries demonstrating how the project is truly Scotland wide. Academic psychiatrists from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow attended along with Public Health specialists and infectious diseases physicians with interests in international health. Medical students, junior doctors, the Scottish Executive and the Scotland Malawi Partnership were also represented.
The Programme included 5 speakers who reported on various aspects of the project. Dr Leonie Boeing, one of the founders of the project discussed the history and evolution of the work. Dr Judith Halford described the project group from 2008. Dr Johan Leuwennink reported on parallel elements of the project regarding the establishment and training of an ECT protocol. Dr David Hayward presented data relating to Forensic Psychiatry in Malawi. Dr Benjamin Baig presented work on the educational standards which the project has successfully delivered.
The afternoon session related to planning the future of the project with regard to funding, education, recruitment and research. Dr Carol Robertson reported on a variety of funding applications and the audience was able to offer further ideas for funding. Important discussion was generated with regards to supplementing educational material. Already 12 junior psychiatrists have offered to volunteer for the project over the next two years.
The main achievements of the project:
- The delivery of undergraduate medical training in Psychiatry to medical students at the University of Malawi for the past three years
- The development of an undergraduate Curriculum and Examination in psychiatry for the university of Malawi
- The allocation of clinical textbooks in Psychiatry to every Malawi medical student during their course
- Securing of funding to ensure the sustainability of SMMHEP for the next three years along with successful recruitment of Scottish psychiatrists for 2009.
- An educational standard comparable to achieved comparable to a UK medical school. Baig et al. BMC Med Educ 2008
- The development of an ECT protocol and training for clinicians in Malawi
- An audit of Forensic Mental Health services in Malawi
- Training in Transcultural Psychiatry for Scottish psychiatrists. Beaglehole et al Psych Bull 2008
- The publication of 5 academic publications relating to the work of the project and several presentations at international psychiatric conferences
- The development of a website and web based resources for mental health training in Malawi
Ultimately the meeting generated much discussion about educational, training and research resources for the future. SMMHEP has presently funding for the next three years.
The project organizers hope to host a similar event next year to which all interested parties will be invited.
The project steering committee is:
Dr Leonie Boeing
Consultant in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, St Johns Hospital, Livingston
Dr Robert Stewart
Lecturer in psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Malawi
Professor Douglas Blackwood
Professor of Psychiatric Genetics, University of Edinburgh
Dr Johan Leuwennink
Consultant psychiatrist, Crichton Royal Infirmary, Dumfries
Dr Benjamin Baig
Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh
Contact details:
Scotland Malawi Mental Health Education Project
c/o Dr B Baig
Kennedy Tower
Royal Edinburgh Hospital
Morningside park
Edinburgh
EH10 5HF
Tel: 0131 5376502
Fax: 0131 5376531
Email:
References:
Baig BJ, Beaglehole A, Stewart RC, Boeing L, Blackwood DH, Leuvennink J, Kauye F.
Assessment of an undergraduate psychiatry course in an African setting.
BMC Med Educ. 2008 Apr 22;8:23.
Beaglehole A, Baig BJ, Stewart R, Boeing L, Strachan JG, Leuwenik J, Kauye F: Training in transcultural psychiatry and delivery ofeducation in a low-income country. Psychiatric Bull 2008, 32:111-112.
Stewart RC, Umar E, Kauye F, Bunn J, Vokhiwa M, Fitzgerald M, Tomenson B, Rahman A, Creed F.
Maternal common mental disorder and infant growth--a cross-sectional study from Malawi.
Matern Child Nutr. 2008 Jul;4(3):209-19.
Stewart RC, Kauye F, Umar E, Vokhiwa M, Bunn J, Fitzgerald M, Tomenson B, Rahman A, Creed F.
Validation of a Chichewa version of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) as a brief screening measure for maternal depressive disorder in Malawi, Africa.
J Affect Disord. 2008 May 24. [Epub ahead of print]
Stewart RC.
Maternal depression and infant growth: a review of recent evidence.
Matern Child Nutr. 2007 Apr;3(2):94-107. Review
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr Peter Bennie, Dr Carol Robertson, Dr Pavan Srireddy, Dr Fiona Murray, Hannah Jonsson for their help in organizing the event and also to Apex Hotels who kindly provided the room and equipment without charge.