Psychiatry in Saudi Arabia

The author draws on personal experience and a review of the literature to summarize the current state of psychiatric practice and education in Saudi Arabia and its relationship to other medical specialities. Although psychiatry is not accorded the status that it has in the West and there is a drastic undersupply of psychiatrists, the specialist practicing in Saudi Arabia has a unique opportunity to integrate ancient beliefs, customs, and laws with modern knowledge and technology in a country where the emphasis is on a stable transition from being governed almost entirely by religious precepts to being a new world power.