{"id":125963,"date":"2025-05-23T18:43:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T18:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/125963\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T18:43:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T18:43:19","slug":"six-month-course-to-help-gps-manage-mental-health-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/125963\/","title":{"rendered":"Six-month course to help GPs manage mental health cases"},"content":{"rendered":"

KLANG: The Malaysian Society for Academic Psychiatry (MSAP) has developed a six-month training programme for general practitioners (GPs) to help patients with mental health issues.<\/p>\n

It said there is an urgent need for private GPs to be trained to manage such issues, given the increase in cases among Malaysians.<\/p>\n

MSAP president Datuk Dr Andrew Mohanraj said the first batch of 49 GPs completed the programme earlier this month.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Experts: It’s as vital as physical health<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

He said GPs played an important role in identifying patients who come in with mental health issues and provide them with the first line of treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraditionally, GPs have also been family doctors, often treating several generations of the same family.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients are likely to open up their problems to a familiar face they trust,” he said on Friday (May 23).<\/p>\n

According to Dr Andrew, long waiting periods to see a psychiatrist could lead to worsening symptoms, and GPs equipped to diagnose and treat non-complex psychiatric cases can fill the void in such situations.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Many Malaysians at risk of depression, says Dzulkefly<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThey can also offer stop-gap treatment while referring difficult cases to psychiatrists.<\/p>\n

\u201cPsychiatrists, too, can refer such cases back to the GPs for follow-up treatment,” he added.<\/p>\n

He said this model had worked well in the United Kingdom and Australia, where primary care physicians are scaled up to meet the community’s mental health demands.<\/p>\n

The certificate of completion for the six-month online programme, the only one of its kind in the country so far, is jointly awarded by MSAP, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and a private firm that provides healthcare analytics and consulting services.<\/p>\n

At the certificate presentation ceremony, Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia president Assoc Prof Dr Hazian Hamzah said the number of psychiatrists in the country was low, at just 460.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Action plan will help youngsters deal with mental health issues<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

She said the only way to meet the country’s needs is to empower primary care doctors to detect and treat common mental health problems while referring complex cases to psychiatrists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will also reduce the bottleneck at specialist services while enabling a conducive therapeutic alliance, since primary care doctors and GPs are familiar with their regular patients,” she added.<\/p>\n

One GP who attended the course said he was interested in participating as he had patients with mental health issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see quite a number of cases where people come in with depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cI normally speak to them to try and find out what triggered it and since most of them say they can\u2019t sleep, I prescribe something to help them relax,” he said.<\/p>\n

He felt the training programme was timely given the increase in cases.<\/p>\n

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