Strengthening Mental Health Education in Nepal
The course participants with instructors Rachel Fischer, MD, left, and Melanie Brown, MD, MSc.
Mental health problems affect one in 10 adults in Nepal over their lifetime. The burden of mental health disorders has risen as the country recovers from a decade-long internal conflict, the 2015 earthquake, and the global COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to this urgent need, three psychiatry experts from Mount Sinai—Jan Schuetz-Mueller, MD, Rachel Fischer, MD, and Melanie Brown, MD, MSc—recently taught an intensive week-long course in global mental health for Nepali students (public health, nursing, medicine, and physiotherapy), faculty, and researchers at Dhulikhel Hospital Kathmandu University Hospital and Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences. The comprehensive course equipped participants with essential skills to recognize, respond to, and research mental health challenges, and emphasized how to scale up services sustainably to meet the needs of low-resource communities of Nepal.
Using the skills and knowledge they learned from the course, participants researched current resources and needs and proposed solutions to improve existing health services to meet each region’s specific mental health needs in Nepal.
Dr. Brown explains the difference between psychosis and schizophrenia to course participants.
For example, from their experience at their placements at Dhulikhel Hospital’s rural community outreach centers, students identified unique local mental health challenges, such as mass hysteria outbreaks among school children. The participants proposed ways to train personnel to face these challenges, including training female community health volunteers in psychological support techniques so that they can better support those experiencing mental health problems in rural communities.
Feedback on the training was overwhelmingly positive. One student commented, “It increased my interest toward mental health issues globally.” Another shared, “What I find most inspiring about the course is its unwavering commitment to develop, train, and educate the students. This holistic approach not only addresses immediate mental health needs but also fosters the generation of health care professionals equipped to make a long-lasting impact on global mental health disparities.”
Nepali students in the global mental health course
The Mount Sinai facilitators were likewise highly impressed by the high quality of the students’ work throughout the course, their engagement, and insight. The facilitators left inspired by the passion and aptitude of the next generation of Nepali mental health leaders and with a greater appreciation of Nepali culture that will help them treat their Nepali patients better in New York City.
The course resulted from a productive collaboration between the Department of Public Health and Community Programs at Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, and the Department of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Across specialties, including critical care, neurology, and pediatrics, about 50 Mount Sinai experts have traveled to Dhulikhel Hospital to contribute expertise through Mount Sinai’s AMPATH Nepal partnership.
We hope this initiative will continue to inspire students in Nepal to engage in the field of mental health and contribute to meaningful and lasting improvements. We look forward to strengthening this valuable partnership in the years to come.
Biraj Man Karmacharya, PhD, is an Administrative Director at Dhulikhel Hospital, Chief Administrative Officer of Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences and Director of the Masters of Science in Public Health Program and Department of Public Health and Community Programs
Akina Shrestha, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health, Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Nepal
Melanie Brown, MD MSc, was Chief Resident in Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West during the course, and is now a Fellow in Consult-Liaison Psychiatry at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine