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DHA Campus, IslamabadMandra Campus, Rawalpindi
Embedded within the Diploma in Family Medicine
Systematic training for General Practitioners to identify and manage priority mental health problems in routine practice, and to conduct research under supervision. Supported by WHO and the Ministry of NHSR&C.
Course overview
After successfully concluding the first and second cohort and providing training to over 250 General Practitioners across Pakistan, we are now accepting applications for the third cohort for our Postgraduate Certificate Course in Mental Health and Research.
Our Postgraduate Certificate Course in Mental Health and Research for Universal Health Coverage is embedded within a Diploma in Family Medicine. Based on the UHC Benefit Package of Pakistan, this certificate course provides systematic training to General Practitioners (GPs) to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to identify and manage priority mental health problems in routine practice.
This postgraduate certificate course is supported by the World Health Organization, and the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation, Pakistan.
With mental health specialists and experts.
Under the supervision of specialists.
Eligibility criteria
Only those family physicians, general practitioners, recent MBBS graduates, and non-practicing doctors who are enrolled in our DFM 2026 cohort (Cohort 3) can apply.
What you will learn
This course will help General Practitioners (GPs) to develop skills and techniques to:
Capacity building in managing patients with mental health problems in primary healthcare settings.
Capacity building in conducting community-based quantitative mental health research.
Supervised practicum work may contribute to research outputs; publication is not guaranteed.
Course components
Online modules on Family Medicine, Mental Health, and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) provide GPs with principles for UHC, including essential service delivery, community engagement, and integrating health interventions into Primary Health Care (PHC) through a Family Practice Approach.
The Family Medicine module introduces person-centered holistic care, a bio-psycho-social approach, and effective communication skills.
To enhance the skills of general practitioners in providing mental health care within the framework of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Benefit Packages, we organize virtual training seminars. Conducted by mental health specialists and experts, these evidence-informed sessions occur on weekends.
These workshops aim to orient GPs to the scientific understanding of assessment, treatment, planning and review of mental health issues commonly presented in general practice. This aspect of the course will help GPs to enhance their communication skills and improve understanding of psychological and social dimensions of mental health disorders with focused psychiatric examination, and learn the basics of research.
Clinical rotation in psychiatry is only for participants with less than five years' experience in clinical practice.
The research practicum provides hands-on research skills training and will enable GPs to conduct research under the supervision of experienced faculty to: screen patients for mental health issues; provide UHC benefit package-based mental health services to patients with mental health issues; refer patients with severe mental health problems for additional and specialist support to a tertiary mental health care facility; and collect routine monitoring data using standardized psychological questionnaires and analyse it to review participants' progress over the course of mental health treatment.
General FAQs
Yes. You earn it by completing DFM modules on UHC and family medicine, identification and management of mental health problems, implementation research, practical skills workshops, and a six-month supervised research practicum. It is not a separate enrolment. Register for the Diploma in Family Medicine cohort; the certificate sits inside that programme.
No. GIHD currently offers this certificate only as part of DFM. If you want the postgraduate certificate you must complete the Diploma in Family Medicine as well. See the Diploma in Family Medicine page for MBBS, house-job and PMC/PMDC requirements, then use the same registration link.
Only family physicians, general practitioners, recent MBBS graduates and non-practising doctors who are enrolled in DFM 2026 (Cohort 3). The taught phase is six months; the research practicum is a further six months. Support is from WHO and Pakistan's Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.
The course trains GPs to detect and assess mental health problems in routine practice, use basic counselling skills, deliver UHC Benefit Package mental health care, and run supervised community-based quantitative research. Psychiatry rotations apply only to participants with less than five years' clinical experience. It does not confer a psychiatry specialist qualification.
Use the Diploma in Family Medicine registration link on this page (the same STMU form as DFM). For questions, email [email protected] or [email protected], or call +92 333 0590373 / +92 330 9979750.
Contact us
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Admissions open
This certificate is offered as part of the Diploma in Family Medicine. Register for the DFM cohort to enrol.
Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm
