On May 25th 2016, the Russian Federation Ministry of Health, Moscow Health Department, and the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology of Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University (RNRMU) held the first All-Russian scientific conference with international participants: “The University Clinic of Psychiatry: Alliance of Science and Practice.” The Conference was devoted to the 110th anniversary of RNRMU and the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology.
As the Organizing Committee of the conference explains:
“University Clinics have made important discoveries in the field of practical and fundamental medicine as well as formed progressive ethical and social norms.” Topics covered included history, research, the clinical challenges of modern practice, social aspects of the reform era, and questions related to education….
As a physician working primarily with children for more than two decades, I fully understand that children’s health is more than just a medical issue. I feel privileged to be a doctor and, at the same time, I feel a deep sense of responsibility to work towards making a better health care system for this vulnerable part of our population.
There is drastic shortage of child psychiatrists for our nation’s 75 million children and teens. Currently there are only 8,300 child psychiatrists nationwide, some 30,000 short of what is needed. In Massachusetts, waits of four to six weeks for a child psychiatry appointment are common, and several community mental health centers report three month waits.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) has worked hard to make the government aware of the crisis of limited access to child psychiatrists. I was inspired by AACAP’s legislative program to get involved in persuading policymakers to address the shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists.
In the spirit of doing my part to address the crisis in access, I have also signed up to volunteer with the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics to provide free care to homeless women and chidren in greater Boston area and I have created my website as a place where stakeholders can interact and come together on behalf of our children.
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