Mission
In 2019, the BUSM/BMC Department of Psychiatry’s Global & Local Center partnered with the Liberia College of Physicians & Surgeons (LCPS) to launch Liberia’s Psychiatry Residency Program at the University of Liberia A.M. Dogliotti School of Medicine. The mission of the program is to train specialists and subspecialists in psychiatry who will have the appropriate competencies to provide effective service, teaching and research in the discipline and provide the required leadership for multidisciplinary mental health service delivery, as well as its planning and administration at the level of Government.
History
In Liberia, the need for mental health resources is particularly high due to a history of brutal civil war characterized by ethnic killings, sexual violence, and the use of child soldiers. Though the psychological impact on the population is largely unknown, the mental health workforce has been faced with an overwhelming number of psychological and psychosocial problems. However, there remains a lack of indigenous resources to meet the mental health needs of the country. To address the huge gap in manpower in health care, the Liberian Government, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, developed a postgraduate medical training program in 2012. An act creating this program was passed by the national legislature in December 2012, and in September of the following year, the first cohort of residents in internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, and general surgery were enrolled in the training program. Since then, a family medicine faculty has been added. In collaboration with Boston Medical Center (BMC) and the University of Liberia, a psychiatry residency program was created to address the critical need for medical training opportunities in the field of psychiatry and mental health to produce psychiatrists who are able to deliver effective mental health services
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Prof Benjamin Harris, MD, DPM is a Professor of Psychiatry and former Chairman, of the Department of Psychiatry, A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine, University of Liberia.
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David C. Henderson, MD, serves as Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Division of Psychiatry, at Boston Medical Center and Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, at Boston University School of Medicine.
Read More About Dr. Henderson Here
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Babawale Ojediran, MD is a consultant psychiatrist and Chairman of the Faculty of Psychiatry at the Liberia College of Physicians and Surgeons (LCPS). He is also Head of Psychiatry at John F. Kennedy Medical Center.
Divisions
Liberia College of Physicians and Surgeons (LCPS) Psychiatry Residency Program
In 2019, the BUSM/BMC Department of Psychiatry’s Global & Local Center partnered with the Liberia College of Physicians & Surgeons (LCPS) to launch Liberia’s Psychiatry Residency Program at the University of Liberia A.M. Dogliotti School of Medicine. The goal of the LCPS Psychiatry Residency Program is to develop a local mental health workforce whereby practitioners will be able to implement best practices in clinical care, education, and research. Due to the unique demands of the Liberian population and the mental health care system, many of the skills required by psychiatry residency graduates will go beyond those provided by psychiatric residency programs found in other countries. The LCPS Psychiatry Residency Program includes integrated psychiatry training for children, adolescents, and adults, as well as public health education. The program also includes specialty training related to substance use and its effects on mental health in the community.
Liberia College of Physicians and Surgeons (LCPS) Psychiatry Fellowship Program
In 2025, the BUSM/BMC Department of Psychiatry’s Global & Local Center partnered with the Liberia College of Physicians & Surgeons (LCPS) to launch the LCPS Fellowship Program at the University of Liberia A.M. Dogliotti School of Medicine. The program will officially commence on November 1, 2025, the very first fellowship psychiatry program in Liberia. The mission of the two-year fellowship program is to train specialists in psychiatry who will have the appropriate competencies to provide effective service, teaching and research in the discipline and provide the required leadership for multidisciplinary mental health service delivery, as well as its planning and administration at the level of Government.