The Department offers both undergraduate and postgraduate programs.  Its clinical and teaching sites are at Sbrana Psychiatric Hospital, Princess Marina Hospital and Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital.  The department has a teaching staff complement of five psychiatrists and one clinical psychologist.

The Departments mission is to make mental health an integral part of medical training and produce graduates with a good grounding in psychiatry who, among other things, would be able to deliver mental health services at both secondary and primary care levels. Students are thus empowered to be able to apply the acquired medical and psychopathological knowledge as well as procedural skills in the management of patients under their care.   

Teaching

The department teaches behavioural sciences to undergraduate medical students in first and second years and psychiatry in fourth year. A postgraduate programme, Master of Medicine in Psychiatry, (MMed-Psych) was introduced in January 2020 with an initial intake of five residents. In addition, to offering mental health services, they are trained to be agents of change in the community in line with the University of Botswana’s philosophy of community engagement. The Department has “Near-Peer –Teaching” (NPT) program for medical students rotating in Psychiatry focussing on the identification of drug use and teen pregnancies among high school students.

Research

The department is actively involved in research and this has resulted in several publications in reputable international journals. Each resident is required to undertake a research project as part of the training.

Partnerships

The department has established collaborations with universities and other stakeholders in the mental health field. Several staff members are members of national committees dealing with mental health issues. Collaborative research has been carried out with faculty from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.

Staff Profile

Name Position Department
COL (Dr. ) James otieno Ayugi Lecturer Psychiatry
Prof Othieno Joseph Caleb Head of Department Psychiatry
Dr. Keneilwe Molebatsi Senior Lecturer Psychiatry
Mrs. Boitumelo Mosimane Personal Secretary Psychiatry
Dr. Anthony Olashore Lecturer Psychiatry
Dr Anthony Olashore Senior Lecturer Psychiatry
Dr. Philip Renison Opondo Assistant Program Director Psychiatry
contact us

Phone
+267 355 4189

Location
Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital /G5038

In pursuit of academic excellence