Medical offi cers of mental
health receive 3 months’ specialist training in psychiatry and provide psychiatric
outpatient and community outreach mental health services from primary care health
clinics, enabling very good geographic coverage for basic mental health services. In
areas where no psychiatrist is working, graduates of the diploma in psychiatry
programme are able to support less well-trained workers in mental and general health
and take responsibility for heading newly created acute psychiatric inpatient units in
district general hospitals.