title: Academic psychiatry across the Pacific: challenges and opportunities for the Pacific-Rim College of Psychiatrists.
abstract: There is cautious optimism that the economic growth around the Pacific-Rim, will stir opportunities to redress the mental health resource deficiencies and inequity of access to services. Many psychiatric services are without psychiatrists and the primary care doctor or nurse is the key mental health professional. One of the challenges is a paucity of training opportunities and a dearth of trainers. Primary care psychiatry training should be the focus of educational programs. Collaboration in research has been gathering momentum in recent years. The Research in East Asia of Psychotropic Prescription (REAP) includes a consortium of eight countries in Asia. More recently, there have been workshops organized for leadership training of young psychiatrists. The Pacific-Rim College of Psychiatrists and Asia-Pacific Psychiatry journal can be a platform for education and research. The myriad cultures and wide expertise across the Pacific-Rim will make collaboration more exciting and challenging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore. pcmkeh@nus.edu.sg
authors.forename: Ee Heok
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Kua
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D044349:Oceania; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*
keywords: academic psychiatry; pacific rim; research and training