Memorandum on the integration of the mhGAP program into higher medical education in Ukraine

On October 2–3, a large-scale event was held in Kyiv with the participation of representatives of the flagship project “Implementation of widespread management of mental disorders at the primary level (mhGAP) into the educational process of medical universities in Ukraine”, the implementation of which is taking place within the framework of the initiative of the First Lady Olena Zelenska to implement the All-Ukrainian mental health program “How are you?” and financial support from the Netherlands and Canada.

At the meeting,  Odessa National Medical University team was represented by the Rector of ONMedU, Academician Valerii Zaporozhan, and the Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Narcology, Medical Psychology and Psychotherapy Yevhen Oprya.

During the event, a Memorandum on the integration of the mhGAP program into higher medical education in Ukraine was signed. The document was signed by the WHO Representative in Ukraine, Dr. Jarno Habit, Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Igor Kuzin, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Andriy Vitrenko, and representatives of 18 universities in our country.

The goal of the WHO mhGAP program is to integrate mental health services into primary health care in order to increase their accessibility and ensure comprehensive coverage. The introduction of such services in the practice of a family doctor not only increases the opportunities for people to take care of their mental health, but also changes the approach to providing care, as the patient’s mental and physical condition are assessed comprehensively.

WHO, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and partners, is integrating the mhGAP program into higher medical education – more than 360 teachers have been trained, standardized working curricula have been developed, according to which the educational process begins in universities.

The signing of the Memorandum is intended to promote the sustainability and systematic training of specialists under the mhGAP program at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels of higher medical education, as well as the implementation of the priorities of the national health policy and Ukraine’s path to European integration.

The Memorandum, in particular, provides for:

• the introduction of a unified approach to the organization of training and supervision of specialists based on a competency-based approach, with mandatory compliance with international standards in the field of mental health;
  – the gradual integration of the mhGAP program toolkit into medical education by revising the Standards of Higher Education, updating educational and professional programs – and including competencies in the field of mental health as a mandatory component of professional development;
  – teaching of disciplines, cycles of thematic improvement and supervision with mhGAP exclusively by certified scientific and pedagogical workers according to unified standard curricula;
  – assessment of the acquired competencies in the field of mental health, as provided for by the mhGAP program, is included in the content of the STEP 2 licensing exam and the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).