Femi Oyebode is a retired professor and head of the Department of Psychiatry at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

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

psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of mental illness. It includes the signs and symptoms of all mental disorders. The field includes Abnormal psychology, abnormal cognition, maladaptive behavior, and experiences which differ according to social norms ...

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 four delusional disorders that occur in the context of mental i ...

. 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 healt ...

lifetime achievement award.

Early life and education

Oyebode was born in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

. He was initially interested in literature and poetry, but his father encouraged him to become a physician. 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 university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...

and moved to

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

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

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

, 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 (region), West Midlands. The trust operates the Queen Elizabeth H ...

Research and career

In 2005 Oyebode took over writing ''Sim's Symptoms in the Mind'' from its original author, psychiatrist Andrew Sims. ''Sim's Symptoms in the Mind'' is a textbook that has become a leading introduction in clinical

. It has 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 Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

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 publish ...

References

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