PUNCIPS-2014 held at DMCH

Ludhiana, March 22, 2014: Department of Psychiatry, in the Golden Jubilee celebration year of DMCH, on Saturday organised 23rd Annual Conference of Punjab & Chandigarh Branch Indian Psychiatry Society (PUNCIPS 2014) in Dumra Auditorium. The conference was formally inaugurated by Secretary of DMCH Managing Society Prem Kumar Gupta along with Principal Dr Daljit Singh, Vice Principal Dr Sandeep Puri, Medical Superintendent Dr Ashwani Chaudhary and Additional Medical Superintendent Dr Sandeep Sharma.
Organising Chairman Dr Ranjive Mahjan extended warm welcome to the dignitaries and delegates present on the occasion. In his message, Dr Ranjive Mahajn said that the conference will cover various topics in the field of Psychiatry and the delegates will are sure find it  an intellectually stimulating and academically insightful experience. The theme of the conference is ‘Future Directions in Psychiatry’ a host of eminent speakers will discuss and share evidence based information on future advancements in the field of psychiatry practice. The conference will also have interesting poster presentations run parallel to the scientific sessions
Dr Navkiran Mahajan, Organising Secretary, said that in order to make positive changes in the field of psychiatry, it is important to appreciate and understand the current challenges and significant limitations of the present approach to psychiatric therapy.
Scientific Secretary Dr Rupesh Chaudhary informed that the conference began with Dr Vidya Sagar memorial Oration by Dr BL Goyal from Amritsar. The topics covered during scientific sessions include ‘Mental Health Care Bill-Relevance to Psychiatric Service Delivery by Dr Ajit Avasthi from PGI Chandigarh followed by lecture on ‘Mental Health Care Bill-How will our practice change,if Parliament passes the new Mental health Bill by Dr AK Kala.
Dr BS Chavan from GMC Chandigarh and Dr Savita Malhortra HOD Psychiatry department PGI Chandigarh gave deliberations about ‘Intellectual Disabilities’ and ‘Telepsychiatry’ respectively. Various populations of patients can benefit from telepsychiatry. India's large population and relatively small number of psychiatrists makes telepsychiatric service a good option for expanding access to mental health care. Telepsychiatry in India is still a young industry, but it is gradually growing, led by institutes such as the PGIMER, Chandigarh and the Schizophrenia Research Foundation in Chennai.
In the concluding scientific session, Dr Rajeev Gupta spoke on ‘Changing roles of a Psychiatrist’ and Dr Sandeep Grover spoke on ‘Major Changes in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’. The conference got concluded with an impressive valedictory function and all the participating delegates were given a proposed vote of thanks by the organisers of the conference.