A Critical Analysis and a Suggested Reform of Psychiatric Curricula in Medical Faculties During Syrian Crisis

Recent research shows that secondary consequences of war on family, social, and economic life are important predictors of psychological outcomes. Post traumatic stress disorders PTSDs have been found to increase dramatically during war as they are psychological responses to intense traumatic events, particularly which threaten life. Syria is facing a serious health problem since the number of outpatients with somatic symptoms and related disorders has increased as well as the number of inpatients with psychiatric emergencies, has also risen during Syrian crisis. The WHO emphasizes that mental health should be viewed as an integral part of public health and social welfare programs, and not as a specialist activity set apart. The Syrian society is in critical need for young medical doctors, who are specifically trained to handle psychiatric complex situations and who, are culturally attuned to their requirements, problems of peace, and human rights. It has been of critical importance to assess the current psychiatric curricula, related to stress disorders, which are delivered in Syrian medical schools. This paper presents a critical analysis to the current psychiatric curricula in Syrian Universities and suggests a new psychiatric curricula and training that need to be delivered in order to produce health professionals who are able to provide psychological first aid, problem-solving counseling, relaxation training, and mange acute behavioral emergencies in countries that suffer from conflicts and crisis. This would be of critical importance to design community-based and culturally sensitive programs and also to design recovery-oriented programs that can promote mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of people affected by crisis.