This low-prevalence disorder requires an assertive multi-agency approach in the context of a national planning framework.

Background: International reports recommend the improvement in the amount and quality of training for mental health workers in low and middle income countries. The Scotland-Malawi Mental Health Education Project (SMMHEP) has been established to support the teaching of psychiatry to medical students in the University of Malawi. While anecdotally supportive medical educational initiatives appear of value, little quantitative evidence exists to demonstrate whether such initiatives can deliver comparable educational standards. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of an undergraduate psychiatry course given by UK psychiatrists in Malawi by studying University of Malawi and Edinburgh University medical students' performance on an MCQ examination paper.

A recently established initiative, the Scotland Malawi Psychiatry Project (SMPP), has provided a unique opportunity for specialist registrars to combine a number of training objectives of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Experience in teaching and assessment of students or junior colleagues is an important part of higher training. A further key objective of the College is to highlight transcultural issues in psychiatry, but trainee exposure to cultural and ethnic diversity varies throughout the UK. The SMPP enabled a group of psychiatrists training in Scotland to participate in a 5-week undergraduate education programme in Malawi and gain important insights into and experience of transcultural psychiatry.