Behavioral Medicine

About Behavioural Medicine
Mission & Vision
Programs
Services
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The Department of Behavioral Medicine is an interdisciplinary field of medicine concerned with the integration of knowledge in the biological, behavioral, psychological, and social sciences relevant to health and illness. Therefore, the Department embraced the expertise from diverse field including psychological sciences, anthropology, sociology and clinical psychiatry. The available services is one of the best in the country, and was one of the very first to provide modern diagnosis and research on behavioral medicine. On its application to clinical services, the Department provides state-of-the-art treatment and care of psychiatric disorders, much of it based on the innovative research done by our faculty. The Department has fully functioning services that address and furnish health care need relevant for all developmental milestones: ‘cradle to the grave’. Thus, the Department caters the need for child and adolescence mental health services, general adult mental health services as well as geriatric psychiatry. On this ground, the department strives, as an academic and clinical department, for excellence in learning, teaching and research and to be the flagship department in its field in Oman and the region. There is ample evidence to suggest that most illnesses, whether physical or psychiatric, are invariably influenced by biology, psychological and social factors and so this biopsychosocial approach is necessary. In this context, in the approach to learning, teaching and research, efforts are made to determine how biopsychosocial factors are central to the predisposition, onset, course and outcome of most disorders.				Dr. Hamed Al Sinawi Head of Behavioural Medicine Department

Whilst communicable diseases continue to be a source of attrition in a country like Oman, there is also the ‘silent epidemic’ of non-communicable diseases, often precipitated and exacerbated by an individual’s behaviour and lifestyle which can result in serious distress and often fatal diseases. Research in the Department has specifically focused on the psychosocial determinants of health and ill-health since biological sciences alone are not sufficient in the prevention of and intervention in matters related to disease. This has led Department researchers to establish cultural variations as a pillar of establishing psychological services in Oman. Research coming from this Department indicates that the incidence of psychological distress in Oman is common, with some minor differences in the incidence of the types of reaction.

We have come a long way since the time when the relevance of behavioural input in medical science was considered to be a 'luxury' only affordable in the industrialised part of the world. Now the question is not how relevant behavioural medicine is for Oman, but how Oman is implementing behavioural medicine in its healthcare infrastructure. Given the rising magnitude of non-communicable diseases, there is immense relevance in a scientific approach to the study of human behaviour.

To promote excellence in research, development and teaching of psychiatry and its allied subjects and to apply and disseminate this knowledge with the aim of preventing mental disorders and developing treatment for the relief of suffering. Throughout our courses, we endeavor to develop in our students, the right attitude towards patients and society. We need to have more human resource both in the clinical and preclinical to cope with the actual and projected increasing number of students, to cope with the new curriculum requirements and to deal with increasing demand of the society, also to organize workshops and seminars for doctors, social workers and allied mental health professionals to ensure awareness of mental health and educate people on the human look to mental health.

Postgraduate Programme

The Department train Family Medicine & Community Health residents and contributed to revising the programmes for the examination for Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP), the Arab Board of Psychiatry and the Oman Medical Specialty Board (OMSB) residency training programme (including writing the curriculum, preparing for examinations and writing their programmes).

TRAINING COURSES & CME ACTIVITIES

The Department conducted a number of workshops on various aspects of stress and coping; the psychology of chronic disease management; research methodology, and issues pertinent to social medicine.

Clinical and Diagnostic Services

On the hospital side, the combination of a rich referral base at the clinic and an innovative service delivery model has created a strong trajectory of growth for the Department of Behavioural Medicine. The department is still the only one in the country providing for specialist tertiary referrals in a General Hospital. It has a multidisciplinary team approach designed to optimally treat patients, and train junior doctors and medical students. The department has a support staff of psychologists, nurses, social workers and other clinicians. The department takes care to provide culturally sensitive therapeutic interventions.

A wide range of assessments and treatments using various conceptual models including neuropsychiatry, psychotherapy and behaviour therapy are offered. It also offers comprehensive liaison psychiatry, behavioural medicine as well as psychosocial intervention under the umbrella of social work.

The department offers unique clinical and diagnostic services. The assessments provided by neuropsychology employs specialised testing procedures and a nomothetic framework that strives to integrate medical, neurological, and behavioural data with neuropsychological test findings to answer any of a number of referral questions. Referrals for our services typically consist of, but are not limited to, questions concerning (a) differential diagnoses between psychogenic and neurogenic syndromes (e.g. depression versus dementia), (b) delineation of spared and impaired cognitive functions secondary to central nervous system dysfunction, (c) establishment of behavioural baseline measures to monitor recovery or progression of central nervous system dysfunction (d) comparison of pre- and post-pharmacological, surgical, and behavioural interventions (e) assessment of cognitive/behavioural functions for the formulation of rehabilitation, management strategies, and/or educational or employment placement and (f) evaluation of neurocognitive status for the purpose of disability, compensation, and liability determinations in forensic cases.

Weekly ward rounds are conducted by each clinical team to discuss our inpatients, with a multidisciplinary approach.

Continuing professional development and regular Grand Rounds every Saturday afternoon, help management of difficult cases.

Contact us

Department of Behavioral Medicine

College of Medicine & Health Science

Sultan Qaboos University

PO Box: 35, PC 123, Al Khod, Muscat Sultanate of Oman

Behavioral Medicine Department, Sultan Qaboos University

Phone: +968 24143443 or +968 24141150 (College)

+968 24144402 (Hospital)

Email: khazina@squ.edu.om (College)

j.manibo@squ.edu.om (Hospital)