The department of psychiatry is one of the departments at the School of
Medicine, College of Health Sciences. It was established in 1971 soon
after the start of the medical college in 1967. The department is
situated at the medical school, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). For
teaching purposes, the department also uses Mathari Hospital, which is
situated about 10 kilometres away from KNH. At KNH together with staff
from KNH we run outpatient clinics for both adults and children. Mathari
hospital with approximately 700 inpatients also offers teaching
facilities. An alcohol and drug rehabilitation facility has recently
been established at Mathari hospital.
Training: Soon after its establishment the main task
was teaching behavioural sciences and psychiatry to the undergraduate
medical students. The syllabuses for these courses are regularly
reviewed to make sure that the graduates are well equipped to handle the
common mental health problems in the community. Initially the
department assisted in preparing candidates for training in in the UK
for the Membership examination in Psychiatry but soon after a Master of
Medicine degree in psychiatry (MMed Psych) was established in 1981/1982.
This is a 3-year full time course and the students are required to
submit a dissertation before qualifying. Since 1983, 90 psychiatrists
have graduated from the programme. Seventy-one of these are currently
practicing in Kenya. In order to meet the demand for more mental health
workers the department found it necessary to introduce courses for
other cadre of staff. A number of these are currently running as
detailed below. Other courses are at various stages of development. A
unique feature of the latter courses is that they are offered in units
that the student can complete at their own pace.