All the courses mentioned in this prospectus are accredited by the NDA Board of Studies according to the NIMHANS Act 2012. As per the following sections new courses are envisioned to fill the gap of trained human resources in the country.
Sec 24: Grant of medical degrees, diplomas, etc by the institute.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the Institute shall have the power to grant medical and nursing degrees, diplomas, certificates and other academic distinctions and titles under this Act”
Sec 25: Recognition of medical qualifications granted by Institute.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Medical Council Act 1956, the Rehabilitation Council of India Act 1992, the Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947 and the University Grants Commission Act,1956, the medical degrees, diplomas, nursing degrees and certificates granted by the Institute under this Acts aforesaid and shall be deemed to be included in the Schedule to the respective acts”
Engagement in public mental health through the National Mental Health Programme: The institute’s mission, in addition to clinical care and training, is to develop standards of care for public health in the area of mental and neurological disorders. The Institute has traditionally followed a multi- disciplinary model of mental health care, with the active involvement of the Departments of Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology, Psychiatric Social Work and Nursing. The Institute has been closely involved with the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP), since its inception in 1982.
Strengthening the District Mental Health Programme: The District Mental Health Program (DMHP), the operational arm of NMHP was first developed by NIMHANS team in Bellary in Karnataka. Apart from the training of doctors, nurses, community health workers and Counsellors, NIMHANS has also been involved in monitoring, reviewing and strengthening the DMHP.
Collaborating with State Governments: Large treatment gaps for mental disorders became apparent by the National Mental Health Survey that NIMHANS conducted in 2016. Since then, NIMHANS has been helping several state governments to improve mental health care through developing trained human resources for mental health.
Use of Information technology: NIMHANS has been leveraging technology for providing clinical services and mental health training. The Telemedicine Trust of Karnataka was introduced with a hope to bridge this gap and make specialist health-care reach populations in remote underserved villages. It got piloted in the year 2001 by collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka. In the first phase, this project was operationalized in 12 districts being connected with super-speciality hospitals (hubs) including NIMHANS, Bangalore in 2004. In the second phase was expanded in 2008 expanding to 25 district hospitals of the state were connected with the super-speciality hospitals (hubs).
The Honourable Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, inaugurated the NIMHANS Digital Academy on 27th June, 2018. The NIMHANS Digital Academy (NDA) has helped to consolidate and expand the tele-activities initiated at NIMHANS throughout the country. This activity was approved as part of a larger mental health informatics initiative on 30th April 2018. The NIMHANS Digital Academy was started in accordance with the objectives of the Institute in the NIMHANS Act 2012, Section 13, and also, to fulfil one of the goals mentioned in Section 31 of Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 which states:
