Should psychiatrists in India engage in more research? Lessons from the West

Abstract

To explore if psychiatrists in India carry out less research as opposed to psychiatrists of Indian origin working in the United Kingdom (UK), we carried out a small-scale survey of psychiatrists practicing in India and psychiatrists of Indian origin working in the UK. In light of the findings of this survey and from the three authors' experience of teaching, training, working, and engaging in research in India and the UK, we try to answer questions such as “why do psychiatrists in India carry out less research? Should it change, and if so how? What can one learn?” Here, we do not assume or advocate that one system (East or West) has all the answers. We merely wish to discuss the place of research in psychiatric training and psychiatric practice.

Keywords

• india
• practice
• psychiatry
• research
• training
• united kingdom