About the Department/Division: The Department of Psychiatry was started in the year of 2013. The department offers training in general psychiatry and various subspecialties such as addiction psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, and neuropsychiatry to undergraduate and post-graduate medical students. The department also provides training to MSc psychiatric nursing students. This training enables the students to acquire clinical, teaching and training, and research skills. The department has a diverse range of faculty members with different clinical/research interest areas who fulfill the AIIMS mandate of clinical work, training and teaching, research, and capacity building. The department has been playing a pivotal role in providing mental health services to Odisha and neighboring states. The department runs regular out-patient and in-patient services, community treatment services, and multiple specialty clinics such as neuropsychiatry, sleep disorders, Child guidance, and addiction treatment clinics (including community addiction treatment clinics). In addition to medical management, the department also provides modified Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT) routinely. The department also provides telepsychiatry services. The department has also been selected to provide services under the Drug Deaddiction Program of India (currently known as National Program for Tobacco Control and Drug Addiction Treatment) and is one of total six such centers across the country.

Currently, the primary mandate of the Department of Psychiatry at AIIMS Bhubaneswar is to develop highly trained human resources in the areas of general psychiatry and sub-specialties of psychiatry. The department also aims to continue the capacity-building work in Odisha and other states to reduce the treatment gap for psychiatric disorders.

The department intends:

 (1) to offer the best possible psychiatric care to the patients

 (2) to train the undergraduate and post-graduate medical and paramedical students in the field of psychiatry, and

 (3) to carry out robust research in the field of mental health.  

Message from Head of the Department/Division: “Its my pleasure to head this Department of Psychiatry which is growing day by day and is receiving new recognitions. We as a team strive to take this department and the institute to newer heights and we intend to achieve this through our collective hard work along with collaboration within and outside the institute. ”

Major Achievements:

1. The department faculty members have published many original research papers in good impact factor journals.
2. The department has been regularly providing Modified ECT services, weekly thrice, catering about 1000 ECT sessions per year, along with providing Maintenance ECT.
3. The department has also been selected as a center under the Drug De-addiction Program of India (now renamed as National Program for Tobacco Control and Drug Addiction Treatment).
4. The department is in the process of opening an Opioid Substitution Therapy center for People Who Inject Drugs under National AIDS Control Organization, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI.
5. The department is in process of becoming a hub for ECHO program in order to provide capacity building and training to doctors of Odisha government and other mental health professionals.
6. The department conducted the National Conference of Indian Association for Social Psychiatry (NCIASP) in 2019.

Academic Programmes:

1. Undergraduate (MBBS)
2. Postgraduate (MD in Psychiatry)

Special Clinics/ Laboratories/Interest/Course:

1. Special clinics: Neuropsychiatry clinic, Child guidance clinic, Addiction treatment clinic, Community addiction clinic (at CHC Mendhasal)
2. Laboratories: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
3. Interest: Psychopharmacology, Brain Stimulation, Child Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatry, Community Psychiatry
4. Course: MD Psychiatry, MSc Psychiatric Nursing

Research Areas: Electroconvulsive therapy, Treatment-resistant schizophrenia, Autism, ADHD, Addiction treatment, Mental health of special populations (women, children, sexual minorities)

PG Student:

1. Current
   1. Dr. Tathagata Biswas
   2. Dr. Advait Dixit
   3. Dr. Abinash Achary
   4. Dr. Sharon Narula
   5. Dr. Radhika Chakraborty
   6. Dr. Chinu Patra
2. Alumni:
   1. Dr. Tanu Kumari

Major Activities:

1. Clinical work
   1. The department provides in-patient and out-patient clinical care to patients with a diverse range of psychiatric disorders, including treatment resistance.
   2. The department is also involved in community outreach through community clinic and community based treatment camps.
2. Teaching and training
   1. The department provides training to undergraduate medical students to prepare them to offer basic evidence-based psychiatric management to common mental disorders.
   2. The department also provides post-graduate psychiatry students training to make them competent in their clinical work, teaching and training, and research.
3. Capacity building
   1. The department faculty members are involved in capacity-building work through various national governmental/non-governmental agencies and universities.
   2. The department conducts regular seminars/symposium and training workshops for institute students, staffs, and other professionals.
   3. The department organised NCIASP 2019 (National Conference of Indian Association for Social Psychiatry).
4. Research
   1. The department faculty members have been involved in various funded/non-funded research projects and have published many research papers in reputed indexed international and national psychiatry journals. In its effort to promote evidence-based medicine, the department faculty members are involved in various Randomized controlled trials studying the effects of different psychiatric medications.