Discrimination and stigmatization cause an important burden for people suffering from psychiatric disorders. The medical doctors, those who should be important reference points for psychiatric patients, are instead one of the categories that contribute to their stigmatization.

It is extremely important to study and to know the attitudes of undergraduate medical students towards psychiatric disorders, since these individuals will be involved in the care of these patients throughout their careers.

The present study analyzes the attitudes of a group of Italian medical students towards mental illness, highlighting the differences between the students who would choose surgical specialties from those who prefer medical ones.

A total of 339 medical students of different medical schools, in Rome and Foggia (Italy), completed a cross-sectional survey. The Italian version of community attitude towards the mentally Ill test (CAMI) was used to evaluate the students’ attitudes.

The students that would choose medical specialties reported less stigmatizing responses in 11 CAMI items (including five items with P < 0.01), in benevolence and community mental health ideology subscales (P = 0.003) and in the total score (P = 0.003).

It is evident that the students that prefer the surgical specialties have more stigmatizing attitudes towards psychiatric patients. Negative feedbacks on Psychiatry from non-psychiatrist colleagues may have a fundamental role in stigmatizing mental disorders.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.