A COMMITMENT TO MENTAL HEALTH,SERVICE AND EXCELLENCE.

The department of Psychiatry,Jos University Teaching Hospital seems to be heading for a new lease of life.There had been calls in recent times to revamp the place in terms of the academic pursuits and structured programms that will make anybody that just strictly follow it come out with excellence.

Last week we held a meeting in which the head of department gave a lot of programms that are lined up for next year.Much of it boils down to the issue of advocacy and medical education for the community in which we are.If what we heard that day are coming to fruition,then we have a lot of activities on our hands next year.However we may start enjoying this from the latter part of this year as the H.O.D has extracted a promise from one of the past members of the department now practising abroad to come and give a guest lecture to the whole hospital community as well as to conduct some training sessions for the residents in the department.
The aim of all these is to make the quality of training in the department comparable to the best in any other center in the country.

Some of the programms that he highlighted that we might be having include;
-Workshop on substance abuse
-Workshop for teachers on mental health as well as substance use in school children.
-Workshop on incorporating mental health into primary health care.
-Quality of life in health and disease.
-Stress management in the work place
-A qurterly programm on T.V on mental health.
-Community mental health.

If all these are achieved, then the department is surely going to be a beehive of activities next year.And as might be expected,a lot is going to be expected of the residents in terms of coming up with quality work and materials to make a success out of all the above mentioned.

In another development,it was really a joyful thing that the candidate presented by the department at the part one examination of the National Postgraduate Medical college came out as the best candidate.This is really a thing of joy as departments of Surgery and Family Medicine produced the best candidates respectively at the same exam last year.It is high time Psychiatry also stood up and deliver.Sequel to this,our seminar presentations are proposed to be more vibrant in terms of content and delivery,there are going to be more clinical presentations as well as journal reviews.

With all the above in place we hope that very soon,we are going to be a reference for excellence in the country.Moreover our community and patients will be better for it.