Femi Oyebode is a retired Professor and Head of Department of Psychiatry at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. He has investigated the relationships between literature and psychiatry. His research has considered descriptive

psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of abnormal cognition, behaviour, and experiences which differs according to social norms and rests upon a number of constructs that are deemed to be the social norm at any particular era. Biological psychopatholo ...

and

delusional misidentification syndrome Delusional misidentification syndrome is an umbrella term, introduced by Christodoulou (in his book ''The Delusional Misidentification Syndromes'', Karger, Basel, 1986) for a group of delusional disorders that occur in the context of mental and n ...

. He was awarded the 2016

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health ...

lifetime achievement award.

Early life and education

Oyebode was born in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

. He was initially interested in literature and poetry, but encouraged to become a physician by his father. He attended a boarding school where he had to decide between specialising in science or the humanities. He eventually settled on biology. He studied medicine at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

and moved to

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

in 1979. Here he completed his higher training under the supervision of

Allan Ker Major Allan Ebenezer Ker VC (5 March 1883 – 12 September 1958) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth ...

, Hamish McClelland and Kurt Schapira. He earned his MRCPsych (membership of the

) in 1983, and was soon appointed a Consultant Psychiatrist in the

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust provides adult district general hospital services for Birmingham as well as specialist treatments for the West Midlands. The trust operates the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston ( ...

Research and career

In 2005 Oyebode took over writing ''Sim's Symptoms in the Mind'' from its original author

Andrew Sims (psychiatrist) Andrew Sims of St James's Hospital, Leeds, was president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing p ...

. ''Sim's Symptoms in the Mind is'' a textbook that has become a leading introduction in clinical

that hs been translated into Estonian, Korean, Portuguese and Italian. It is currently in its sixth edition. His MD thesis, which he completed in 1989, was supervised by Ken Davison. He was appointed medical director of the South Birmingham Mental Health Trust in 1997. He completed a further doctorate in the philosophy of mind at

Swansea University , former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea , motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn , mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture" , established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...

in 1998. Oyebode was a Consultant Psychiatrist at the National Centre for Mental Health Birmingham until his retirement in 2021. He was made Director of the South Birmingham Mental Health Trust in 1997. In 2002 he was appointed Chief Examining Officer at the

. His research considers the neuropsychiatry of

. He served as Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the

from 2003 to 2009. In 2016 he was awarded the

Lifetime Achievement Award.

Poetry

Alongside his research career, Oyebode is interested in the intersection of psychiatry of literature. He has written about the need for humanities in postgraduate medical education. He has published over seven volumes of poetry. He was given Legend Recognition at the Creativity and Arts Awards in 2017.

Selected publications

His publications include; * * * * He has served as Associate Editor of the

British Journal of Psychiatry The ''British Journal of Psychiatry'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering all branches of psychiatry with a particular emphasis on the clinical aspects of each topic. The journal is owned by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and publis ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oyebode, Femi Scientists from Lagos 1954 births Living people Academics of the University of Birmingham University of Ibadan alumni