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Objective: Faced with high prevalence of psychiatric illnesses, increasing socio-economic inequality, and high suicide rates, Chinas rural physicians (previously known as the "barefoot doctors") are ill equipped as they typically have not received any formal psychiatric training in their three-year medical training.This study evaluates an innovative, large-scale ("Wennuan") Project in ten Chinese provinces that has implemented a two-week intensive mental-health training, with a specific module for suicide prevention and crisis management skills training.This Initiative represents a first-time, specific, including clinical exposure of psychiatry for over 11000 rural physicians, impacting more than 11 million people.Methods: An extensive evaluation study of the Initiative at two of the ten provinces, using assessments that measured quantitative and qualitative aspects, pre-and post-training.Results: Focusing on suicide prevention and crisis management aspects of the overall psychiatric training, there were very strong, positive outcomes, including significant and enduring attitude changes among physicians, self-reports of changes in practice, and stronger ties and referrals to more specialized centres.Trainees also raised many topics of interest for future training, and asked salient questions for further improvement.Administrative reports suggest notable impact on nature of suicide crises management, and possible drop in number of crises (though the information is anecdotal).Moreover, the success of the program provides impetus for a number of systemic changes with potentially significant regional and national effects, including providing a model for basic medical and continuing medical education, recommendations for regulatory changes, and addressing societal stigma against mental illness.Conclusion: The Initiative to introduce psychiatry, and suicide prevention skills to Chinese rural physicians is timely and its outcome very positive, contributing to a worldwide effort to recognize that there is "no health without mental health".