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UG expanding human development mandate
…in quest to help health sector tackle mental issues
Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Emanuel Cummings
With the aim of helping to prepare professionals to bolster the delivery of mental health services, the University of Guyana [UG] this week commenced its General Psychology programme. The programme was first launched in November of last year, with Deputy Vice Chancellor [Philanthropy, Alumni and Civic Engagement], Professor Paloma Mohamed, as one of the key players behind its introduction.
Although it is expected that the programme will be administered up to the Master’s level, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Emanuel Cummings, said that currently the programme is being offered only at the Diploma level. He however disclosed that “we are working to develop the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees to offer them by September too.”
With the full gamut of psychology courses in play, it is expected that the products of the programme will have a significant impact in helping the Ministry of Public Health to better deal with patients who present with mental health conditions.
Moreover, Dr. Cummings recognised the psychology programme as yet another key programme being offered by the Faculty of Health Sciences.
“We hope that this programme will help to address some of the ills in our society. We have issues of suicide and many other social issues such as substance abuse and so forth, and so we are hoping that through this programme we can provide what is needed to help curb these problems by producing persons who are qualified to intervene at an early stage,” an optimistic Dr. Cummings shared.
He observed that a great deal of these troubling issues in society plague many young people who make up the majority of the production faction of the society.
“If we can intervene early and help to prevent these issues we expect that it will also help with our social development,” said the Health Sciences Dean.
Social Development speaks to the learning of values, knowledge and skills that enable children to relate to others effectively, and to contribute in positive ways to family, school and the community as a whole.
Moreover, Dr. Cummings noted “we are looking for a successful implementation of the [psychology] curriculum and hopefully we will be able to graduate people competent in general psychology.”
Speaking of the programme at its launch last year, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, said that the introduction of the psychology programme is one that demonstrates the efforts made by the national university in assisting government’s agenda to address mental health issues.
“The government of Guyana through the Ministry of Public Health has embarked on a rigorous programme to address mental illness in Guyana. For the first time in the Ministry of Public Health, a mental health unit has been established [and] a number of interventions have already been conducted countrywide as we seek to build capacity within our public health system,” the Minister informed.
She’d moreover noted that the launch of the programme amplifies that the university is fulfilling its mandate of developing the human potential to tackle mental health issues.
As such, it was highlighted that the programme is designed to increase the number of mental health providers available to evaluate and treat psychological conditions, reduce the high rate of suicide and also increase awareness, prevention, support, and compassion for those suffering from mental illness. It is also geared at providing professional growth and development for those currently in the mental health field by offering them under-graduate and graduate-level clinical psychology training.
It was highlighted that the development and enhancement of competence in the assessment, evaluation, and treatment of psychological problems would not only increase the level of professionalism of the field, but reduce the burden of mental illness among the general population.
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