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INSPIRATION
Training, Research & Care In Global Mental Health Delivery
Inspired by the life work of our founder, Dr. Chester M. Pierce, we commit to improving mental health training, research and care delivery through a “domestic global” perspective.” This enhances the opportunity to improve culturally humble, proficient and safe care across contexts.
The Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry is part of the Department of Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital. The Division works to build capacity, conduct research, and provide technical assistance to reduce the tremendous burden that mental health disorders present worldwide. Our work is driven by international partnerships, based in evidence, and focused on systems change.
The field of global psychiatry, informed by diverse other fields as well as by clinical practice, stands to strengthen the quality and practice of care in any context for the post-pandemic future, as practitioners of psychiatry are today “global psychiatrists” wherever they work.
History
The Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry
The Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry was one of the first programs for global mental health in an academic medical center. Dr. Chester M. Pierce established the Division of International Psychiatry at MGH in 2002 after a landmark meeting, “The African Diaspora: Psychiatric Issues.” This five-day conference brought together more than 40 psychiatrists of African descent to analyze, discuss, and develop an agenda to address the role of psychiatry and psychiatrists in healing the mental health problems of people of African descent throughout the world. The Division renamed in 2009 to honor its founder and mentor, Dr. Chester M. Pierce, and to reflect its global view.
Drs. Pierce and Fricchione sought to develop a program that could provide clinical, educational, and research contributions to reduce the global burden of psychiatric-related disease. The intent was also to prepare a new generation of twenty-first century global psychiatrists to work with international populations in America and abroad. To learn more about Dr. Pierce, click here.
Today the Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry at MGH seeks to convene efforts supporting the mental health and human rights of populations with mental health needs in our rapidly changing world, at the interface of Psychiatry, mental health care delivery, and public health.
Home Base
The MGH Department of Psychiatry
The Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry sits within the Department of Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School. Since its founding in 1934, the Department of Psychiatry remains one of the largest psychiatry services in the country. The strong reputation of the Department and its influence on psychiatry research and practice stems from the academic productivity of its faculty, the growth of its research programs over the past several decades, and the quality and broad dissemination of its continuing medical education and clinical and research training programs. The wide-ranging activities of the Department are firmly rooted in a commitment to providing outstanding clinical care to patients with psychiatric disorders, a commitment exemplified by the exceptional depth and breadth of the clinical services provided and by the engagement of virtually all of the faculty leaders in direct patient care.
From the Department’s inception and consistent with the mission of the hospital, research, and education have been pursued with the goal of advancing the understanding and optimizing treatment of psychiatric disorders. Research, training, and clinical practice are viewed as synergistic and inseparable. MGH Psychiatry’s commitment to global health is represented by the establishment and departmental support of The Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry. The Division serves as a site for global mental health expertise and a source of collaboration in international efforts for Department faculty and trainees.
To learn more about the MGH Department of Psychiatry, click here.