Primary health care psychiatry

Much needs to be done to improve psychiatric care in SouthAfrica. Resources need to be developed, particularly in ruralareas, and psychiatric services need to be better integratedinto primary health care services. This process will include theintensive training of mental health care workers. If we l...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: J L Roos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 2008-03-01
Series:South African Journal of Psychiatry
Online Access:http://www.sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/85
Description
Summary:Much needs to be done to improve psychiatric care in SouthAfrica. Resources need to be developed, particularly in ruralareas, and psychiatric services need to be better integratedinto primary health care services. This process will include theintensive training of mental health care workers. If we look at thetraining of primary care physicians, their rotation during the 2-yearinternship falls short in psychiatry. It is not seen as a mainstreamrotation point like disciplines such as surgery or internal medicine.This fact, as well as a more student-centred approach andemphasis on self-learning in medical curricula, make the searchfor an appropriate prescribed textbook in psychiatry an importantissue.
ISSN:1608-9685
2078-6786