A Professor of Psychiatry is back in Uzbekistan for the second time in less than a year to help strengthen the country's youth mental health services. 

Mohammad Ghaziuddin, MD, who spent about a month in Uzbekistan last year laying the groundwork for a partnership, was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to return for five months this year to design and implement the country's first formal specialty training program for child psychiatry.

"Currently, there is no formal residency or fellowship training for child psychiatry, even though more than one third of the population is less than 18 years old," Ghaziuddin said. "So there is a growing need."

At present, certification courses are offered for psychiatrists who wish to specialize in treating children and adolescents. These courses take a few weeks to complete. Health leaders are looking to introduce a new model that more closely follows the residency and fellowship programs found in the West.

Ghaziuddin is partnering with collaborators from the Tashkent Pediatric Medical Institute, located in Uzbekistan's capital. Even before his arrival in February, he and his counterparts had been meeting on Zoom for months to begin writing a curriculum and planning for implementation. To start, they hope to enroll about five trainees per year.

Having previously worked to expand services in places like Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, this marks Ghaziuddin's first time partnering in Central Asia. Once a part of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan has been modernizing rapidly in recent years, with the government making significant investments in improving infrastructure and training more providers.

"There is a big transition taking place in this part of the world, so it is exciting to be here at this moment to witness some of these changes," Ghaziuddin said. "Our hope is that my visit will be a catalyst to help start a sustainable residency program and to help the Ministry increase awareness of child and adolescent psychiatry in general among doctors here."