Department of Psychiatry

United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) - Best University in Abu Dhabi, UAE

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Department of Psychiatry

Overview

Clinical & Community Services

Teaching

Publications

Faculty

General Enquiries

Overview

The primary mission of the department is to meet the mental health needs of the United Arab Emirates and the community through providing an undergraduate educational program in psychiatry and behavioral sciences that meets high international standards. We also strive to promote postgraduate training and continuing professional education in psychiatry, in partnership with other health care providers in the country. In addition, the department engages in high quality research relevant to national needs, and in clinical mental health service delivery.

Clinical & Community Services

Since its inception in 1990, the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral sciences has been fully involved and committed to psychiatric services in Al Ain Medical District. The department was instrumental in establishing the Al Ain Psychiatric Division and the CME programs. Faculty members provide clinical services on an outpatient, inpatient and consultation liaison basis. The Department runs outpatient clinics in both Al Ain and Tawam Hospitals on a weekly basis, takes part in the regular ward rounds in the inpatient unit at Al Ain Hospital and covers approximately 40% of the night call rota. The department played an active role in introducing the official nomenclature of the contemporary classification and the diagnostic systems in psychiatry to be used in recording diagnoses as well as in communicating with other professionals. One of the hallmarks of the departmental activities in this regard is the organisation and supervision of the weekly case conference that takes place on Tuesdays of each week. During this activity, students, interns and residents present a patient either with diagnostic difficulties, management problems or with unusual clinical presentations to a large audience consisting of psychiatric nurses, medical students, residents, specialists, consultants, psychologists and social workers. This type of activity has proved to be one of the most useful tools for applying evidence-based medicine to clinical psychiatry. In addition, a journal club is held as an exercise for students and psychiatric trainees on how to formulate critical evaluation of published research work.

The department was instrumental in establishing child psychiatry services in Al Ain Medical District. The department is solely responsible for providing these services which include outpatient clinics, inpatients services and consultation services at Al Ain and Tawam hospital. In addition to providing child mental health services this includes provision of services in the area of developmental psychiatry. Furthermore, liaison services are provided to other departments in both these hospitals.

A child psychiatry clinic has been established at the School Health Center utilizing the structure and resources of School Health Services. Children are referred to the clinic by school personnel or school health physicians who carry out a routine screening program for all school children. The department has pioneered the introduction of a comprehensive school mental health screening program initially in Al Ain and then at a national level which has been hailed as a model for other developing countries. In this regard, training programs are offered to school health physicians in the detection and management of common child psychiatry problems.

The Department has operated a weekly primary care psychiatric clinic since March 1991. A crucial aim of our presence in the PHC setting is to offer educational programs to PHC general practitioners, in addition to providing patient care services. The educational programs to PHC doctors are tailored in a realistic fashion to address the weaknesses of the practicing doctors. Our target is to minimize missed psychiatric morbidity among PHC population. The psychiatric services are offered in a cost-effective fashion by making utmost use of available resources (e.g. space, paramedical staff, patients records etc). This has the additional advantage of psychiatric services being offered in a relaxing and non-stigmatizing atmosphere.

Teaching

The Department contributes to all stages of the curriculum and provides major input to the clinical training of students, particularly in shaping appropriate skills and attitudes. The department contributes to Premed, Preclinical and Clinical curriculum.

Clinical Teaching:

Psychiatry Clerkship Rotation: The psychiatry clerkship is an 8-weeks program during the Junior Clinical Sciences Course. The overall goal is to allow students to become familiar with common mental health problems and to acquire necessary knowledge and skills in psychiatric patient care. The clerkship provides exposure to in-patient and out-patient psychiatry services as well as primary care psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry. The methods of teaching include tutorials, student led seminars, clinical clerking, communication skills sessions, PBL sessions, small group discussions, self-directed learning and an Evidence Based Medicine assignment.
Paediatric Clerkship: The Department's input in the paediatric rotation includes teaching developmental psychiatry and psychosocial issues relating to physical illness in children.

Residency Program: The Department faculty participates as core faculty in the 4-year Psychiatry Medicine Residency program at Tawam and Al Ain Hospitals. The program includes an assessment at the end of each year (level), and the residents also take the Arab Board Examination in Psychiatry. The scheme is designed in such a way as to encourage and allow candidates to search and pursue further higher specialty training abroad
Postgraduate Diploma: The Department offers professional clinical diploma course in the Applied Psychological Skills and Competencies in Mental Health in co-operation with the National Rehabilitation Center. This post-graduate program focuses on improving skills and competencies in psychological intervention, partially in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The program is run by the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) Abu Dhabi, which offers a specialization option in Substance Misuse. The Professional Clinical Diploma is awarded by the United Arab Emirates University.

Publications

Al Gaferi H, Osman OT, Matheson C, Wanigaratne S, Bond C. (2013). Substance Misuse in Arabic Countries: The Need for Published Research. An invited editorial in: International Journal of Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders. 1(1), 7-11.
Amiri L, Voracek M, Yousef S, Galadari A, Yammahi S, Sadeghi MR, Eskin M, Dervic K. (2013). Suicidal behavior and attitudes among medical students in the United Arab Emirates. Crisis, 34(2):116-23.
Elhamady M, Mobasher M, Yousef S, Moselhy H. (2013). association between the order of drug use initiation and the development of opioid dependence among Egyptian adults: cannabis as a gateway and culture specific drug. Addictive Disorders and Their Treatment Journal, 12 (2): 91-98.
Hashim M, Major S, Mirza D, Prinsloo E, Osman OT, Amiri L, McLean M. (2013). Medical Students Learning Communication Skills in a Second Language Empathy and expectations. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J, February;13(1): 100–106.
Moselhy H, Reid R, Yousef S, Boyle S. (2013). A specific, accurate and sensitive measure of total plasma malondialdehyde by HPLC. Journal of Lipid Research, 54 (3): 852-858.
Mufaddel A, AlSabousi M, Salih B, AlHassani G, Osman OT. (2013). A case of Gorling-Goltz syndrome presented with psychiatric features. Behavioural Neurology, 1–41.
Mufaddel A, Osman OT, Almugaddam F, Jafferany M. (2013). Adverse Cutaneous Effects of Psychotropic Medications. Expert Rev. Dermatol, 8(6), 681-692.
Mufaddel A, Osman OT, Almugaddam F, Jafferany M. (2013). A review of body dysmorphic disorder and its presentation in different clinical settings. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord, 15(4) e1-e9.
Osman OT, Abbas AK, Eid HO, Salem MO, Abu-Zidan FM. (2013). Interpersonal violence in the United Arab Emirates. Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot, Jul 4. [Epub ahead of print]
Salem MO, De Cicco TL, Ragab MA, Yousef S, Murkar A, Vaswani M. (2013). Spiritual and religious imagery in dreams: A cross cultural analysis (UAE & Canada). International Journal of Dream Research, 2013; 6(2):24-27.
Yousef S, Eapen V, Zoubeidi T, Kosanovic M, Mabrouk A, Adem A. (2013). Learning disorder and blood concentration of heavy metals in the United Arab Emirates. Asian J. Psychiatry, 2013;6:394-400.
Yousef S, Eapen V, Zoubeidi T, Mabrouk A. (2013). Behavioral correlation with Television viewing and Videogame use among children in UAE–International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice (IJPCP). In press.

Awara M. (2013). Effectiveness of the Community Treatment Order in streamlining psychiatric services. Journal of Mental Health, 22(2):191-7
Mufaddel A, Osman OT, Al Mugaddam F. (2013). Presentation of Body Dysmorphic Disorder in Dermatology. Int J Psych Clin Pract , P01, 13.
Osman OT, Mollica R, Nasir L, Hashim J, Lavelle J, Amawi N. (2013). Trauma Informed Care Survey of Psychiatrists and Primary Care Physicians in the Middle East. Int J Psych Clin Pract, P49, 31.
Osman OT, Mufaddel A, Al Mugaddam F.(2013). Adverse Cutaneous Effects of Mood Stabilizers. Int J Psych Clin Pract, P48, 31.
Osman OT, Sabri S, Shamsan A, Rizk D, Alraesi H. (2013). Prevalence and Sociodemographic Correlates of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder symptoms in the Gulf city of AlAin. Int J Psych Clin Pract, P50, 31-32.

Faculty

Note: If calling from outside the UAEU organization, dial (+971 3 713) before the extension.

Name	Position	Email	Extension
Dr. Syed Javaid	Chair and Assistant Professor	sjavaid@uaeu.ac.ae	7417
Dr. Karim Abdel Aziz	Associate Professor	kabdelaziz@uaeu.ac.ae	7442
Dr Dina El Gabry	Assistant Professor	daly@uaeu.ac.ae	7465
Dr. Leena M. Amiri	Assistant Professor	lina.amiri@uaeu.ac.ae	7595