Aims and methodSummer schools are advocated as part of the national recruitment initiative despite little evidence of their impact. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a 3-day non-clinical initiative. Change in attitudes and career intention were measured by administering a questionnaire, which included the 30-item Attitudes Toward Psychiatry (ATP-30) survey, at the start and end of the event.ResultsMean ATP-30 scores increased from 119 to 128, which represented a highly statistically significant change (t = 5.40, d.f. = 18, P < 0.001). A positive shift in intention to pursue psychiatry as a career was demonstrated.Clinical implicationsThese results suggest well-planned summer schools can have a significant impact on students' attitudes. Despite high initial ATP-30 scores a positive shift in attitudes and career intentions was still seen. Further evaluation of the longitudinal impact is needed. Events such as this are important and likely produce a cumulative effect alongside other recruitment strategies.
ObjectivesThe proportion of junior doctors required to complete psychiatry placements in the UK has increased, due in part to vacant training posts and psychiatry career workforce shortages, as can be seen across the world. The aim of this study was to understand the lived experience of a Foundation Year 1 junior doctor psychiatry placement and to understand how job components influence attitudes.DesignThe study was conducted using a cross-sectional qualitative phenomenological approach.SettingHospital and community psychiatry department settings in the North East of England, UK.ParticipantsIn total, 14 Foundation Year 1 junior doctors were interviewed including seven men and seven women aged between 23 and 34 years. The majority had completed their medical degree in the UK and were White British.ResultsThe lived experience of a junior doctor psychiatry placement was understood by three core themes: exposure to patient recovery, connectedness with others in the healthcare team and subjective interpretations of psychiatry. The experiences were moderated by instances of role definition, reaction to the specialty and the organisational fit of the junior doctor capacity in the specialty.ConclusionsThe study reinforces and adds to the literature by identifying connectedness as being important for both job satisfaction and morale, which is currently damaged within the junior doctor population. The study provides in-depth insights into the lived experience of psychiatry placements and can be taken forward by educationalists to ensure the placements are meaningful experiences for junior doctors by developing role definition, belonging, structure and psychiatric care responsibility.
SummaryMost literature discussing the introduction of foundation year 1 (F1) psychiatry posts has focused on recruitment. However, for F1 posts to offer a valuable learning experience and a potential recruitment boost, psychiatrists and employing organisations should be aware of general issues arising in the first postgraduate year. These include the inherently stressful student-to-doctor transition, the need for bespoke induction programmes for new graduates, F1 doctors' specific needs for support, supervision and peer support, and the centrality of the relationship with the consultant supervisor to the new doctor. Understanding these themes will enable psychiatrists and mental health organisations to offer better F1 psychiatry experiences, which may boost recruitment and could maximise the opportunities for F1 doctors to develop skills and qualities that will be of value in their future careers, whatever specialty they end up working in.
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