Psychiatry is a very important medical speciality devoted to the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders and currently this medical field is facing a shortage of qualified psychiatrists. There are also not enough seminars and workshops in psychiatry being conducted to keep practitioners abreast of the latest development in this medical field.
Quest International University Perak (QIU) firmly believes that knowledge must be shared and the university plays a role as a knowledge centre to the community. It is with this in mind that a Teaching Psychiatry workshop was conducted recently which saw renowned speakers from Australia, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia share their knowledge on the latest developments in Psychiatry.
Held at the University, the seminar, supported by DKSH Pharmaceuticals Malaysia was attended by around 50 participants from hospitals and universities in Malaysia such as Hospital Bahagia, Ulu Kinta and Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Hospital Taiping , UNIKL and Cyberjaya Medical College .
The workshop started off with the first session by Professor Dr. Kua Ee Heok who spoke on the topic – “What makes an effective medical teacher”. Prof. Dr. Kua Ee Heok is the Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Senior Consultant Psychiatrist at the National University Hospital, Singapore. He is a member of the World Health Organisation team for the global study of dementia.
Following that, participants listened to the topic “Teaching mood disorders to Medical students” which was delivered by Prof. Dr. Chee Ng who is the Professor and Healthscope Chair of Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne. His roles include the Director of the Professorial Psychiatry Unit of the Melbourne Clinic, and Site Director of World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre in Mental Health at St. Vincent’s Melbourne.
Up next was the topic entitled “Psychopharmacology for students” by Prof. Dr. Chong Mian Yoon, the Vice-Superintendent of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry of Chang Gung University, Taiwan. Following him was the topic “Teaching child and adolescent Psychiatry” by Prof. Dr. John Wong is the Head of Department of Psychological Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and National University Hospital, Singapore.
The final speaker for the workshop was Professor Dr. Kua Ee Heok who spoke on the topic “Geriatric Psychiatry – what students need to know”.
The workshop was very informative as every session was followed by discussants chaired by the speakers and QIU academics including Vice Chancellor, Dato’ Dr. Raman Narayanasamy and Head of Department of Psychological & Behavioural Medicine at QIU, Associate Professor Dr. Bilbir Kaur.
Dr Ian Lloyd , Forensic Psychiatrist from Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta and Dr Norhayati Nordin , Director of Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta also added to the team’s academic pulse. Participants had the opportunity to exchange knowledge and engage with the speakers during the discussants.
A dinner talk ensued where participants had the privilege to listen to the distinguished speakers again. The topics for dinner session were “Addressing challenges in treating major depression in Asia” by Prof. Dr. Chee Ng. This was followed by Dr. Kua Ee Heok who spoke about “Question of Age : Is Dementia preventable”. The final speaker for the night was Prof. Dr. Esther Ebenezer who is the Head of Department & Professor in Psychiatry at UniKL RoyalCollege of Medicine Perak. She spoke on the topic “ Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease”.
It was an engaging and stimulating session where psychiatrists shared ideas, experiences and information. Congratulations to the organising committee for a job well done and we look forward to more such workshops in the future.
