Improving Mental Health Care in Kenya

In September through late November of 2016, with the generous financial support of the AMPATH Consortium, Brown University, Butler and Bradley Hospital in Providence, R.I., were able to host 3 outstanding second year registrars (Drs. Saina Chelagat, Mary Wangui Njuguna, and Cleophas Juma Wafula) from the Moi University Medical Department of Psychiatry/Mental Health. They were able to participate in four separate medical rotations for which the expertise in their own department was somewhat more limited. This included:

• One week of Behavioral Neurology with Ben Margolis, M.D. who is board certified in both Neurology and Psychiatry;
• 3 weeks of Geriatric Psychiatry with Drs. Amy Halt and Lou Marino both of whom are board certified  in geriatric psychiatry;
• 2 weeks of adolescent psychiatry with Joel Solomon M.D., who is board certified in adult, child and adolescent psychiatry;
• and two weeks of child psychiatry with Drs. Anne Walters, the director of the child and adolescent Division of Psychology at Bradley Hospital and Marta Majczak, M.D., who is board certified in child, adolescent and adult psychiatry.

The 3 registrars from Moi University School of Medicine also had full access to the didactic and experiential training programs available to both the child, adolescent and adult residents at Brown University and had significant interaction with the Brown University trainees.  The housing was provided by Miriam Hospital in Providence, R. I. and with the exemplary and generous administrative work of Mrs. Sheri Lelievre and  Janet O’Connell. Martin Keller, M.D. Professor and Chair Emeritus at Brown University and Director of Academic and Strategic Planning and Mood and Anxiety Disorders Research at Butler Hospital coordinated this academic exchange program.  All of the faculty and administrative work by the named, and other, individuals at Brown, Butler and Bradley Hospitals was provided pro bono.   

In the previous two years, two second year registrars from the Moi University Medical Department of Psychiatry/Mental Health were able to participate in similar rotations at Brown University, Butler and Bradley Hospital in Providence, R.I.; which was paid for by Butler Hospital, with the housing provided by Miriam Hospital in Providence, R. I. and with the exemplary and generous administrative work of Mrs. Sheri Lelievre,  Janet O’Connell  and Claire Walker. Martin Keller, M.D. coordinated this academic exchange program.  This past year when Butler Hospital no longer had the financial resources to support this program, Indiana University generously committed the necessary funds for this program as described in the first paragraph.

This Global Giving site is to help us raise funds to continue this type of education exchange and training for the Kenyan registrars (equivalent to a U.S. medical resident).  Your support is crucial to helping us provide this opportunity for these bright and talented young men and women, so that they may further the mental health care that can be provided to their fellow Kenyans.