Changing Attitude Towards Schizophrenia by Psychiatric Training of Medical Students

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine if psychiatric training of medical students is appropriate to change their attitude towards schizophrenia and reduce stigma. Method: Students at Ulm University were asked to answer five questions regarding a short case vignette about a patient suffering from schizophrenia at the beginning and at the end of a two-week psychiatric training within their undergraduate medical education. For this purpose, the Attitudes to Mental Illness Questionnaire was used. Differences between attitudes before and after the training were examined (paired t-test) and effect sizes were calculated (Cohen's d). Results: Data were available of 100 students, 34 men and 66 women. There was a statistically significant improvement in the total means of the AMIQ score from -3.09at the beginning to -2.31 at the end of the psychiatric training. The effect size (d) was 0.35. No significant differences were found with respect to the participants' age and gender. Conclusion: A two-week psychiatric training appears to be an appropriate and effective teaching tool to reduce stigma. This is important because health care for patients with schizophrenia is strongly influenced by the practitioner's attitude towards them.