Department of Psychiatry

Department of Psychiatry

Started in 1994

Outpatient services started in June 1995 Inpatient services in June 1996..

Prof. BS Chavan	MD, MAMS	Professor & Head
Prof. Priti Arun	MD	Professor
Dr. Ajeet K Sidana	MD	Assistant Professor
Dr. Subhash Das	MD	Assistant Professor
Dr. Devender Kumar Rana	MA, M.Phill, Ph.D(Clinical Psychology)	Assistant Professor(Clinical Psychology)
Dr. Rustin	M.Phill, Ph.D	Assistant Professor(Clinical Psychology)
Ms. Virtu Chongtham	M.Sc. (Psychiatric Nursing)	Assistant Professor(Psychiatric Nursing)
2 Senior Residents, 1 Nursing Tutor, 1 Asstt. Clinical Psychologist, 1 Play Therapist, 3 Clinical Psychologists, 6 Psychiatric Social Worker

Department of Psychiatry was started in February 1994 with start of outpatient services in Polyclinic Sector 22. Inpatient services were started in 1996 after the joining of Dr. Priti Arun and Dr. B. S. Chavan./span>

From the very beginning the department has given a very high priority to the quality of care and human resource development in the field of psychiatry. Department has been organized in such a way that psychiatric services are available round the clock and help is available immediately without a long waiting time. Department has also given high priority to include patients and their families in treatment planning. Through active community outreach programs the department has been making constant efforts to receive feedback from the patients who dropped out from treatment as well as patients who do not seek treatment. Health education through pamphlets, video cassettes, articles in newspapers and radio talks is an integral part of the comprehensive treatment package.

MD Course in Psychiatry: The department is running MD Course in Psychiatry since 2005 as per MCI recommendations. Currently every year 2-candiates are enrolled for MD Psychiatry.

SERVICES

a) Outdoor Patient Services

Name of Service	Days	Timings
Adult Psychiatry Clinic	Everyday	9 AM to 1 PM
Child Guidance Clinic	Thursday (AN)	2 PM to 5 PM
De-addiction Clinic	Tuesday (FN)	9 AM to 1 PM
Marital & Sex Clinic	Monday (AN)	2 PM to 5 PM
Tobacco Cessation Clinic	Monday (AN)	2 PM to 5 PM

b) Psychiatry Ward:

Ward has 30 beds. Facilities and activities include daily morning prayer and exercises, recreational facilities consisting of television, indoor games, book/magazines/newspaper and weekly staff meetings with patients and their relatives. Psychiatric patients and patients of alcohol and drug dependence who are unmanageable at home are admitted in the ward for short periods.

c) Community Clinic:

Name of locality	Days	Timings
Dhanas	Tuesday	10.00 AM to 12.30 PM
Khudda Ali Sher	Wednesday	10.00 AM to 12.30 PM
Sector 26, Police Lines	Thursday	10.00 AM to 12.30 PM
Palsaura	Saturday	10.00 AM to 12.30 PM

Regular services, four times a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday) are provided by the Department of Psychiatry. Clinic provides comprehensive services for patients of drug and alcohol dependence and mental illnesses.

d) Clinical Psychology Services:

It includes both psycho-diagnostic and therapeutic services by a consultant, clinical psychologist, play therapist, assistant clinical psychologist and counsellor. The section has a well equipped behavior therapy lab and a playroom also.

e) Consultation Liaison services:

Department is providing 24 hours services for psychiatry emergencies as well as routine psychiatric consultations for inpatients and outpatients of other specialitiesIt .

f) Community outreach Services:

Department is taking active participation in community education and outreach activities.

10 day Deaddiction camps are organized every year since 1997 where upto 20-30 persons with substance dependence are admitted and detoxified within the community set up.
1 day De-toxification and awareness camps since 2000.
1 day Mental Retardation Awareness Camps Lectures and symposia in Schools.
Various other symposia, workshops, competitions etc on a regular basis.

g) State Resource center

The office of SRC is presently located in the Department of Psychiatry. The department is regularly monitoring the activities of Community based Rehabilitation Workers on every Monday for early identification of persons with disability as well as various interventions required.

h) “Aashreya”

A Home for Mentally Challenged: The Home for Mentally Challenged has been inaugurated by H.E. Governor, Punjab & Administrator, Chandigarh Administartion on 03-12-08 in Sector 47, Chandigarh for the residential facility for the mentally challenged people.

i) Day Care Centre:

For social and vocational rehabilitation of mentally ill persons to facilitate their reintegration in the community. Disability certification for mental illnesses is also done.

j) Genetic Lab:

The department of Psychiatry has established a genetic centre primarily for prevention of mental Retardation and other disabilities through antenatal and newborn screening.

k) Rehabilitation Services via Umeed and Prayatan:

Vocational rehabilitation of the mentally challenged and mentally ill has been taken up by the dept in a very novel and unique way. A number of kiosks( snack huts/ juice bars) have been set up in different locations across Chandigarh providing employment to such persons under supervision of needy parents/guardians of similarly disabled persons .

l) Institutional services:

Visits to various institutions are regularly made to provide consultation for psychiatric patients. Currently dept is providing these services to institutions like Burail Jail, Samarth and Pingalwara etc.

m) Govt. Institute for Mentally Retarded Children (GIMRC):

Currently, Govt. Institute for Mentally Retarded Children has 280 children on roll and is providing following services:

· For the children:

Teaching by special educator.
Vocational training in chalk making , caning, bread, bakery products, cutting and tailoring, masala grinding, paper recycling, book binding and envelope making
Recreational activities.
Day Care
Hostel for boys
Free medical treatment.
MR clinic everyday
Early intervention Clinic every Wednesday
Epilepsy clinic every Tuesday
Disability Certification

For the Families:

Training of parents/ caregivers of Mentally Retarded Children.
Counselling.

For Trainers:

Training of Medical Officers and teachers in the area of mental retardation. They will subsequently train other categories of staff sponsored by WHO

Diploma in vocational Rehabilitation( Mental retardation :- the institute is running 1 year diploma since July 2002

Further detail about GIMRC can be found on website www.gimrc.nic.in

n) Teaching:

Department has given a very high priority for teaching undergraduate medical students.100 hours of training are provided to Medical undergraduates. It includes both theory lecture and practical clinical classes

o) Important achievement of the faculty and staff :

Prof.B.S.Chavan has been awarded WHO Fellowship in the area of Community based De-addiction services.
Prof.B.S.Chavan has been awarded membership of National Academy of Medical Sciences.
Prof. B.S. Chavan has acquired diploma in Hospital Administration.
Prof Priti Arun is editor of official jounal of Indian Psychiatric Society- North Zone.
Dr. Rachna Bhargava is executive council member of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Dr. Ajeet Sidana is member of Executive Committee of Indian Psychiatric Society North Zone.

RESEARCH & MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT

Research Priority of the department in the field of research is to design cost effective and innovative intervention strategies which can be implemented with minimum expertise as well as to study the financial and social impact of mental disorders.

Human resource development; From the very beginning, department has given priority to Human Resource Development (HRD) in the field of Psychiatry. Department started training programme for nurses and psychology students.

The first clinical attaché (clinical psychology) joined the department in September 1998. The department is providing training courses ranging from one to six months to postgraduates in Psychology.

The Postgraduate course in Psychiatry(MD Psychiatry) was started in 2005 and 2 candidates have completed MD Psychiatry from the department. This degree is recognized by the Medical council of India (MCI). The number of seats for this course was increased from 1 to 2 in 2009 and currently the department has 5 postgraduate students.

Training of counselors under NACO The department of Psychiatry has been recognized by National AIDS Control Organisation(NACO) as a center for training of counselors in HIV/AIDS for the states of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

Training under Rehabilitation council of India

Training of Medical Officers and teachers in the area of mental retardation. They will subsequently train other categories of staff sponsored by WHO
Diploma in vocational Rehabilitation (Mental retardation :- the institute is running 1 year diploma since July 2002 Training of parents/ caregivers of Mentally Retarded Children).

CME Programmes, Conferences and Academic Activities

PG development programme North Zone held on 26-27th June 2010.
19th National Conference of Indian Association for Social Psychiatry held on 23-25th Nov.2012

Recent Activities & Achievements

Development of Community Mental Health Model for India:

In order to develop a Community Mental Health Model for India, an International Conference was held from 17^th February to 19^th February, 2011, at National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi under the “Asia-Pacific Community Mental Health Model- Building partnerships in Community Mental”. In this Conference seventeen countries from the Asia-Pacific region participated and presented the Community Mental Health Model which was in use in their respective countries. The Conference was also attended by the Heads of eleven Centre of Excellence and the Apex Institutes in the field of Mental Health in India. These Institutes presented their Research Proposal and at the end of the presentations, four Research Proposals from Chandigarh, Ranchi, Ahmadabad and Madurai were short-listed. The Department of Psychiatry, GMCH has been short-listed to work on the “urban model” of community mental health for India.

For launch of these projects, a MOU was signed between the Melbourne University and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India in the office of the Australian High Commission, New Delhi on 31^st August, 2011. Subsequently, a training programme was organized for the heads of these four centers in Melbourne, Australia from 5^th to 9^th March, 2012. Dr. B.S.Chavan ,Head of the Department of Psychiatry, GMCH, Chandigarh attended this training programme.

Training to Medical Officers in alcohol and substance abuse:

The ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has selected six nodal centers in the country to provide training to Medical Officers in alcohol and substance abuse, out of which the Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College (GMCH), Chandigarh, is one of them. For the North India, that is, for the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, the programme was co-ordinated by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS and the Department of Psychiatry, GMCH, Chandigarh.

In this regard, the Department of Psychiatry, GMCH has conducted the “Training Programme on Substance Use Disorders” from 17^th August, 2011 to 31^st August, 2011 and again from 8^th November, 2011 to 22^nd November, 2011 for two different groups of Medical Officers.

Dr B.S.Chavan has been elected as a member of World Psychiatric Association section on Public Policy and Mental Health.

Starting of M.Phil courses (Clinical Psychology and Psychiatric Social Work):

The Department of Psychiatry, GMCH, has started M.Phil in Clinical Psychology and M.Phil in Psychiatric Social Work and First batch was admitted on from 19^th October, 2011. Eight students enrolled for the M.Phil in Clinical Psychology course and two students enrolled for the M.Phil in Psychiatric Social Work course.