London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Educational/professional background

I'm a psychiatrist from North Brazil who worked for more than 10 years before studying the MSc Global Mental Health jointly at King's College London and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine on a Chevening Scholarship in September 2023. I have large experience working in mental health in low-resource settings, in all levels of healthcare. I have worked in the Brazilian National Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS), in Non-Governmental Organizations and in the private sector. I have also worked in Medical Education as a supervisor for medical residents in Psychiatry at SUS in São Paulo.

I studied Medicine in Universidade do Estado do Pará (2002-2007) and went on to a medical residency in Psychiatry at Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo (208-2011). I also have a Post Graduate diploma in Health Education from SUS by Hospital Sírio Libanês and Programa de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Institucional do Sistema Único de Saúde (Proadi-SUS).

Research interests or career goals

My main professional interests, for both research and career-oriented goals, are:

• Implementing mental health care for children and adolescents with severe mental illness (SMI), neurodevelopmental disorders/ learning disabilities in low resources (underfunded, understaffed) settings without overburdening primary health care workers;
• Multisectoral approaches in child and adolescent mental health care for severe mental illness (SMI), neurodevelopmental disorders and learning disabilities
• Mental health of children and adolescents in indigenous populations in Latin America and more specifically in the Amazon region
• Wellbeing and mental health of mental health care workers (especially the ones working with children, adolescents, and their families) in low resources settings and the impact this causes on quality of care delivered.

Why I chose LSHTM/my programme

My above-mentioned interests drove me to apply for my programme. I wanted to develop better knowledge and understanding of the very mental health implementation challenges I have witnessed in my frontline work, and to learn how to promote policies, services, health system strengthening interventions to assist vulnerable populations better.

The MSc is nested within the Centre for Global Mental Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Research and work created by this centre have already changed the lives of many people across the world.

As the MSc students come from very diverse academic and professional backgrounds from around the globe, I have the opportunity to learn, develop technical, networking and leadership skills, and meet interesting people and their awesome work, and to exchange ideas and experiences with them.

Any extra information

• Chevening Scholarship 23/24
• Advice for students coming back to school after many years working in healthcare