Abstract :
Background: The discipline of psychiatry, and psychiatry as a career option, have been negatively regarded by medical students for decades. Recent literature states that disability due to psychiatric disorders has been increasing and the global burden of mental illness ranks second. For effective health care to be delivered, it is crucial that health professionals are not hampered by prejudiced attitudes. This study aims to assess the attitude of medical students towards psychiatry.
Materials and Methods: The responses of 70 medical students from first year; who have not been exposed to psychiatry were compared with 127 final year students; who have completed psychiatry clinical postings, using ATP30 questionnaire that assessed their attitude to psychiatry and their interest in pursuing psychiatry as career choice.
Results: The overall attitude towards psychiatry did not differ between students before and after psychiatric education. Women were found to have significant positive attitude towards psychiatry (p=0.007). Even though the overall scores did not show significant change, we have observed that psychiatric education had significant influence on the students with respect to the role of psychiatrist, psychiatric hospitals and the effectiveness of psychiatric treatment.
Conclusion: Psychiatric education positively influences attitude of medical students towards some aspects of psychiatry but does not increase the number of students willing to pursue psychiatry as a career. It will be helpful if changes are made in psychiatric curriculum for undergraduates to meet current and future requirement of medical professionals to deal with psychiatric disorders.
Keyword :
Psychiatry, Attitude, Undergraduate.