The impact of contact with psychiatry on senior medical students' attitudes toward psychiatry

Objective: To investigate the attitudes of Danish medical students as to the attractiveness of psychiatry as a career possibility and to asses the impact on such attitudes of actual contact with psychiatry. Method: A base-line survey included 222 senior medical students, of whom 160 were also surveyed subsequent to a 4-week psychiatric affiliation. Results: The base-line survey shows that psychiatry is rated as less attractive than other specialization groups, and that working as health assistants in psychiatric wards contributes to the problematic image. However, a 4-week psychiatric affiliation resolves a number of image issues, and following such an affiliation more medical students were considering specializing in psychiatry. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that psychiatric affiliations can influence students' attitudes to psychiatry. The observed changes in attitudes lead to the presumption that some aspects of the image problem of psychiatry stem from inadequate knowledge of psychiatry as a specialty and the actual work psychiatrists perform.