Ravi Bhat

Associate Professor Ravi Bhat serves as Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Rural Health, Melbourne Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne, a position he has held since 2006. Qualified with MBBS, DPM, MD, and FRANZCP, he is also Clinical Director of Goulburn Valley Area Mental Health Services and Divisional Clinical Director for Adult Mental Health Services at GV Health. Based in Shepparton, Victoria, his career emphasizes improving mental health care delivery in rural Australia, where he has contributed since 1999. Bhat plays a key role in rural training programs for medical students and junior doctors, promoting sustainable rural mental health workforces through community engagement.

Bhat's research specializations include delirium, suicide rates among the elderly and centenarians, factors influencing mental health workforce retention in public services, and monitoring psychotropic adverse drug events in long-term care. His scholarly output features prominent works such as "Delirium as a disorder of consciousness" (Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 2007, co-authored with Kenneth Rockwood), "Suicide in centenarians: the international landscape" (Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 2024), "Elderly suicide rates: the importance of a non-linear relationship with distal risk and protective factors" (International Psychogeriatrics, 2012), and "Top 10 Signs and Symptoms of Psychotropic Adverse Drug Events to Monitor in Residents of Long-Term Care Facilities" (Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2024). With over 1,300 citations documented on ResearchGate from 48 publications, his contributions significantly influence psychogeriatrics and rural psychiatry. Bhat has earned major honors including Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours for service to psychiatry in rural Victoria, the inaugural RANZCP Rural Champion award in 2026, and the 2021 RANZCP Victorian Branch Meritorious Award.

Professional Email: rbhat@unimelb.edu.au