News archive 2007

Presidential role for psychiatrist

27 Nov 2007, PR 190/07

Professor Dinesh Bhugra has been elected unopposed as the next President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Dinesh Bhugra is Professor of Mental Health and Cultural Diversity at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, and Honorary Consultant at the South London and Maudsley Trust.

He has been Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists since 2003 and will begin his term of office during the College's Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 2 July 2008.

Professor Bhugra's research interests include professionalism in psychiatry, decision-making by psychiatrists, depression, schizophrenia, pathways into psychiatric care, deliberate self-harm, primary care, cross-cultural psychiatry, spirituality, psychosexual medicine and diversity.

He has published widely, including books on cultural psychiatry, management, and religion and psychiatry. In 2006, after receiving a Wellcome Trust grant, he wrote a book entitled Mad Tales from Bollywood: Portrayal of Mental Illness in Conventional Hindi Cinema which was very well received in India.

Professor Bhugra has been active in the Royal College of Psychiatrists since 1985, and has chaired the Collegiate Trainees Committee (1987); the Overseas Doctors Training Committee (1996-present); and the Faculty of General and Community Psychiatry (1997-2001).

Overwhelming support

‘It is an honour and a privilege to be elected to the Presidency of the Royal College of Psychiatrists,' says Professor Bhugra. ‘I am particularly pleased to have received such overwhelming support from the members and fellows of the College.

‘From my arrival in Cork nearly three decades ago, my journey through clinical and academic services in Leicester, Eastbourne, Guy's and the Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley in London has been thoroughly enjoyable.

‘My medical training was at the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune in India, and my psychiatric training here in the UK. After gaining clinical experience, I have devoted much time to training. As a result, the links between service development, standards of healthcare delivery and research have been my passion. I believe that the profession of psychiatry must be at the core of all medical care, ensuring that psychiatrists meet the mental health needs of all patients. The medical profession is at a crossroads, with serious threats to professionalism.

‘The role and identity of psychiatrists must be strengthened, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists must take a lead in defining professionalism for the 21st century. Most importantly, maintaining good standards for delivery of psychiatric services, and aspiring to top quality services that psychiatrists themselves will be willing to use, is the paramount challenge for the profession. I will work with key stakeholders to achieve this, including patients, carers, mental health professionals, the voluntary sector, and primary care.'

Professor Bhugra's priorities are to:

1. review psychiatry's contract with society through a re-evaluation of professionalism;
2. ensure that the College is relevant to its members by rewarding excellence, consultation and participation, and raising standards for practice and services;
3. support and represent the membership and trainees through changing times;
4. build stronger links with stakeholders;
5. build on existing links with the international community.



Notes to editors

King's College London
King's College London is the fourth oldest university in England with more than 13,700 undergraduates and nearly 6,200 graduate students in nine schools of study based at five London campuses. It is a member of the Russell Group: a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, international relations, medicine, nursing and the sciences, and has played major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of health care professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university.

King's is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings, with income from grants and contracts of more than £114 million, and has anannual income of more than £369 million.



Further information
Camilla Palmer, Public Relations Officer at the Institute of Psychiatry
Email: camilla.palmer@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 0483



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This information is provided by the Public Relations Department
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