DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY

The Academic Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is currently headed by Prof Dr. Aftab Asif (MRCPsych). In addition to Prof. Aftab, the Department has two full time Psychiatry faculty members and six full time clinical psychologists, one social medical officer, two registrars, post graduate residents and several medical and house officers.

The Academic Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at King Edward Medical University / Mayo Hospital Lahore has an impressive history. It was founded in 1964 on an outpatient basis under Prof Muhammad Rashid Chaudhry, a former graduate of King Edward Medical College who joined as Consultant Psychiatrist in 1960. He also held the position of Medical Superintendent of Mayo Hospital from 1974-1975. He later became Professor of Department of Psychiatry in 1975-1982. He was awarded the title of Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry in 1984. Under his dynamic leadership, in 1975 the inpatient facility was added and later expanded. In 1978 UN/PAK Model Drug Abuse & Rehabilitation Centre was established. The Department was actively involved in multiple national and international research projects under his supervision.

Professor I.A.K Tareen joined as the Head of Department of Psychiatry in 1982. Under his pioneering vision the first and largest purpose built Psychiatry Department in the country was built in 1989 having separate Adult & Adolescence, Geriatric and Addiction units. The library, laboratory, conference room, psychotherapy and occupational therapy rooms and an ECT suite were part of the structure. He worked extensively with the Government to build human resource at the Department of Psychiatry. Seats for Associate and Assistant Professor, Senior Registrar, Medical Officers, House Officers and Staff Nurses were increased. More seats for Clinical Psychologist, Medical Social Officer, Statistical Officer, Occupational Therapist, Laboratory and ECT technicians were allocated.

Teaching Programs for Training and Research purposes involving foreign faculty members from UK, USA, Australia and other countries were a regular feature at the Department of Psychiatry. In collaboration with the Royal College of Psychiatrists Prof. Tareen established the Overseas Doctors Training Scheme. Many talented doctors went to the UK under this scheme and are now renowned consultants in the UK. The 14 bed UN/PAK Model Drug Abuse & Rehabilitation Centre was visited by Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales in 1991. Professor Tareen’s mission emphasized educating students, physicians, mental health professionals and specially the general public about Psychiatry in order to remove the social stigma associated with it.

Professor Dr. M. Riaz Bhatti chaired the Department of Psychiatry from 2001-2012. He organized numerous International symposia and workshops. The 9th International NeuroPsycon 2012 on Psychiatric updates and Media/Public awareness was held at King Edward Medical University. He revived the Community Outreach Program for psychiatric patients. Under this program senior doctors visited four District hospitals located in Lahore on a weekly basis.

The Academic Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is currently headed by Prof Dr. Aftab Asif (MRCPsych) who joined as Professor and Head of Department in 2012. A former graduate of King Edward Medical College, Prof. Aftab started his career under the guidance of Prof. Tareen as house officer and later Medical Officer at the Department of Psychiatry. After completing his MRCPsych from the UK, he returned to Pakistan and joined the Department as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry.

Prof Dr. Aftab Asif is actively involved in improving the standard of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training. He is deeply involved in designing the undergraduate teaching curriculum of Psychiatry under KEMU and WPA (World Psychiatric Association). The teaching program in Behavioral Sciences for students of 1st -3rd year MBBS will start from 1 Dec 2013. The country’s first Dementia Research Center in collaboration with Alzheimer’s International was established at the Psychiatry Department / Mayo Hospital Lahore in May, 2013. Prof. Aftab is taking an active interest in establishing a community based research program. Some projects in the pipeline include an Overseas External Rotation Program for Post graduate training residents and adding super specialty training in Addiction and Forensic Psychiatry. Prof. Aftab is the General Secretary of the IndoPak Punjab Psychiatric Society. He has also begun significant renovation of the Departmental Building including Outpatient Clinic, Student Lecture Room and Conference room. Several ongoing collaborative research projects are also being pursued.

Our Vision

The vision of the Department of Psychiatry, King Edward Medical University is to become a leader in providing the highest values of excellence in clinical care, community service, education, innovative research and patient advocacy.

Our Mission

We are striving to develop our department to provide the highest quality health care in the appropriate socio-cultural and religious context of Pakistan. Our mission is threefold:

• To provide compassionate, safe and effective care of people with psychiatric and co-occurring disorders.
• To educate students, physicians, mental health professionals, and the general public about psychiatry and the behavioral sciences.
• To conduct innovative and relevant research into the understanding and treatment of people with psychiatric disorders, and into the prevention of these conditions.

The Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA) as well as the King Edward Medical College Alumni Association of North America (KEMCAANA) has agreed to collaborate with the department to establish a Centre of Excellence in Psychiatric Research. A formal Memorandum of Understanding is due to be signed in this regard. Dr. Ali M. Hashmi, Associate Professor of Psychiatry will spearhead this project which is expected to generate high-quality research and publications in the coming years.

The psychiatric services include a 60-bed acute care short-term Adult & Adolescence psychiatric unit, a geriatric unit and a 14 bed Drug Abuse & Rehabilitation Centre for patients in need of alcohol and drug detoxification treatment. An extremely busy daily outpatient clinic provides treatment to patient with all kinds of psychiatric illnesses. All treatment programs utilize a bio-psychosocial model. Treatment modalities include a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation, pharmacotherapy and E.C.T. All paradigms of psychotherapy are applied including individual, family and group therapy and behavioral management techniques. A structured rehabilitation program helps in the integration of patients back into the society. We offer Consult-Liaison Psychiatric Services to all departments of Mayo and affiliated hospitals as we believe interdisciplinary academic collaboration is in the best interest of patients. An affiliated Child Psychiatry Department with a 6 bed inpatient as well as outpatient clinic provides care to children and their families. The Department Of Psychiatry also runs a day hospital and has a purpose built laboratory and a well established library.