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Drawing medical students' interest to psychiatry

Drawing medical students' interest to psychiatry Dear Editor, Our research has shown that amongst medical students at the National University of Singapore, two‐thirds (of 382 students) with specialty interests at Years III and IV had already experienced early interest in specializing, even before entry into medical school. In our cohort the most significant reason for choosing a specialty was interest (97.3%, P = 0.022) (Mahendran et al ., ). We have also studied attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness amongst medical students using the Attitudes to Psychiatry (ATP) and Attitudes Towards Mental Illness (AMI) instruments. Medical students had a positive attitudinal change during their psychiatry rotation ( P = 0.002) and significant improvement in AMI scores after the four‐week psychiatry rotation ( P < 0.001) (Mahendran and Abidin, ). Another study showed that the posting in psychiatry can even influence (re)consideration of psychiatry as a career choice. In a group of 72 medical students, 68% were willing to consider a career in psychiatry after the posting, while 20% of this group had indicated a specific non‐psychiatric career choice earlier on (Broekman et al ., ). We have identified psychiatric teaching and the shift in perceptions of mental illnesses as contributory factors. This is encouraging and provides a positive base from which to enhance efforts to further interest medical students in psychiatry (Broekman et al ., ; Mahendran et al ., ). We endorse the view that psychiatry clerkships are “influential in career decision making”. Additionally, the introduction of Elective Programs and Student Internship Programs in Psychiatry and opportunities for research participation are positive directions in helping to cultivate their interest and recognize and realize their potential. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Asia-Pacific Psychiatry Wiley

Drawing medical students' interest to psychiatry

Asia-Pacific Psychiatry , Volume 4 (4) – Dec 1, 2012

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References (8)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd
ISSN
1758-5864
eISSN
1758-5872
DOI
10.1111/j.1758-5872.2011.00160.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Dear Editor, Our research has shown that amongst medical students at the National University of Singapore, two‐thirds (of 382 students) with specialty interests at Years III and IV had already experienced early interest in specializing, even before entry into medical school. In our cohort the most significant reason for choosing a specialty was interest (97.3%, P = 0.022) (Mahendran et al ., ). We have also studied attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness amongst medical students using the Attitudes to Psychiatry (ATP) and Attitudes Towards Mental Illness (AMI) instruments. Medical students had a positive attitudinal change during their psychiatry rotation ( P = 0.002) and significant improvement in AMI scores after the four‐week psychiatry rotation ( P < 0.001) (Mahendran and Abidin, ). Another study showed that the posting in psychiatry can even influence (re)consideration of psychiatry as a career choice. In a group of 72 medical students, 68% were willing to consider a career in psychiatry after the posting, while 20% of this group had indicated a specific non‐psychiatric career choice earlier on (Broekman et al ., ). We have identified psychiatric teaching and the shift in perceptions of mental illnesses as contributory factors. This is encouraging and provides a positive base from which to enhance efforts to further interest medical students in psychiatry (Broekman et al ., ; Mahendran et al ., ). We endorse the view that psychiatry clerkships are “influential in career decision making”. Additionally, the introduction of Elective Programs and Student Internship Programs in Psychiatry and opportunities for research participation are positive directions in helping to cultivate their interest and recognize and realize their potential.

Journal

Asia-Pacific PsychiatryWiley

Published: Dec 1, 2012

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