Over the past 20–30 years psychiatry has gradually moved from predominantly hospital-based care to care in the community. Community psychiatry embraces a variety of definitions: it may describe the practice setting, the population served or the philosophy of illness and treatment (Johnston et al, 1995). In discussing the training implications of this shift towards community models of psychiatri...

In a perceptive article written 17 years ago, Sumathipala & Hanwella described what they called a spiral of community care. This was derived from evidence over a long time period that society alternates between embracing community psychiatry as an inclusive and positive way of treating the mentally ill, and an exclusive psychiatry at other times, when those with mental illness are perceived as ...

It is generally accepted that psychiatry is moving away from mental hospitals. The practice of psychiatry is more community based and community oriented. This shift is also evident in the field of psychiatric training and research both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. About 70% of the medical schools of our country have psychiatric departments and provide some form of education in psyc...