Fellow, World Psychiatric Association (Turkey); Fellow, American Psychiatric Association (USA); Associate Professor (Psychiatry), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Dhaka
Dr. Mekhala Sarkar, psychiatrist and public health specialist, is now working as an associate professor of psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. After completion of MBBS from Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka, in 1998, Dr. Mekhala Sarkar completed her. In 2003, she completed her master’s degree in public health (MPH) in epidemiology from the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM) under the University of Dhaka, where she secured the topmost position.
In 2010, she obtained her post-graduation (FCPS) in Psychiatry from the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS). She has also received a fellowship from the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) (Turkey) as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2012, and was honored with an International Fellowship from the American Psychiatric Association (USA) in 2018.
Dr. Sarkar was awarded the most prestigious ‘Hidayetul Islam Gold Medal Award’ as the best promising young psychiatrist based on achievement, contribution, and research activities in this field in 2015. She completed her SSC from Agrani Balika Vidyalaya, Dhaka and HSC from Holy Cross College, Dhaka.
Dr Mekhala Sarkar holds the position of Course Director of MD course (Residence Programme) in NIMH and also the Executive Editor of Bangladesh Journal of Psychiatry, official journal of Bangladesh Association of Psychiatrist. Besides, she serves Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) as the Joint Secretary of the Research and Training Monitoring Committee (RTMC) as well as the Faculty of Psychiatry. She is also a Member of the Medical Education Department and Student Advisory Committee of the.
However, since September 2022, she has been given the responsibility of one of the honorable members of newly reformed Board of Trustees) of Manarat International University (MIU) in Dhaka. Dr Mekhala is a bold voice for anti- drug-campaign initiated by the Prothom Alo. She speaks on different mental health issue and contributes in different public and private universities, schools, NGOs, social organization and corporate offices as a guest speaker.
Besides, she has more than 200 famous write-ups on mental health aspects published regularly in leading daily and weekly newspapers of Bangladesh, including the Daily Prothom Alo, the Daily Ittefaq, etc. Recently her first book ‘মনের অসুখ জানুন সহজেই’ by Tamprolipi Publication has been published in Ekushey Boimela in 2023. Besides providing psychiatric services and academic activities, she has also been involved in various research activities at national and international levels. Dr. Sarkar has 35 published articles (research article/review article/ case report), with eight pieces to her credit.
