Teaching child psychiatry in ethiopia: challenges and rewards

Ethiopia is a country of 81 million people, half of whom are children. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children ranges from 3.5-23.2%. However, there are very limited mental health resources in the country, including few psychiatrists. Thus the training of more psychiatrists, including providing them with expertise in child psychiatry, is an imperative.

The article briefly reviews the development of the Toronto Addis Ababa Psychiatry Project (TAAPP), a collaborative program between the University of Toronto and Addis Ababa University designed to help train psychiatry residents in Ethiopia. The article then focuses on the author's experiences on one recent trip to Ethiopia to provide some of this training.

Formal teaching sessions as well as clinical supervision were provided to the Ethiopian residents. Content had to be adapted to be relevant to the Ethiopian context, but teaching approaches did not have to be modified significantly. The Ethiopian residents were very enthusiastic learners and made quick changes to their practices based on the teaching.

Collaborative programs such as TAAPP may be important mechanisms to improve the training of psychiatrists internationally, especially when there are limited local educational resources.