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Non-graduate and graduate entry medical students attitudes to psychiatry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2013

S. M. Pillay ,
F. Sundram ,
D. Mullins ,
N. Rizvi ,
T. Grant ,
M. Boohan  and
K. C. Murphy
S. M. Pillay*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
F. Sundram
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
D. Mullins
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
N. Rizvi
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
T. Grant
Affiliation:
CSTAR, School of Public Health and Population Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
M. Boohan
Affiliation:
Centre for Medical Education, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland
K. C. Murphy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr S. M. Pillay, Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland. (Email [email protected])
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Abstract

Objective

Graduate entry medical students’ views of psychiatry may differ from those of school leavers. This study hypothesised that (i) exposure to a psychiatry attachment is associated with a positive change in attitudes towards psychiatry in both graduate entry and non-graduate entry students, (ii) graduate entry students exhibit a more positive attitude to psychiatry compared to non-graduate entry students and (iii) graduate entry students are more interested in a career in psychiatry than non-graduate entry students.

Methods

In this study 247 medical students (118 females and 129 males) completing their psychiatry rotation were invited to complete questionnaires examining career choice, attitudes to psychiatry and career attractiveness for a range of specialties including surgery, medicine, general practice and psychiatry before and after their psychiatry attachment. Questionnaires were distributed prior to commencement of their attachment and redistributed on the final day of the attachment.

Results

Of the 165 participants in the study, 75 students entered medicine via the traditional route (without a primary degree), 49 entered via the graduate entry programme and 41 had a primary degree. Overall, medical students displayed positive attitudes towards psychiatry. However, while there was an improvement in attitudes towards psychiatry and the career attractiveness of psychiatry on completion of the rotation, no differences were found between graduate and non-graduate entry students. Psychiatry and general practice had lower ratings for career attractiveness than other specialities. No significant changes were found in the first and second choice of specialty.

Conclusion

Our results show that improvements in attitude and career attractiveness do not necessarily correlate with increased choice of psychiatry as a specialty. Graduate entry has been considered a possible opportunity for increasing recruitment in psychiatry but our results suggest that this may not be the case. Follow-up studies are required to determine whether career attractiveness correlates with future career choice.

Keywords

Attitudescareer preferencesmedical studentspsychiatry
Type
Original Research
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , December 2013 , pp. 245 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 2013 

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