Effectiveness of a summer school in influencing medical students' attitudes towards psychiatry

Abstract

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.

Enrichment activities in the medical school psychiatry programme – could this be a key to engaging medical students in psychiatry? A study from a high secure forensic psychiatric UK hospital

“…As a career of first choice, one and three years after qualification, only 4–5% of doctors chose psychiatry [ 3 ]. In 2011 and 2012, only 83% and 85.3% of Core Trainee 1 posts (first year training), respectively, were filled following a second round of recruitment [ 4 ].…”

“…Moreover, this deprecation may even originate from fellow medical students, doctors in other specialties and even staff on the psychiatric wards themselves [ 10 ]. Secondly, psychiatric practice is regarded by many as having a lack of scientific basis [ 4 , 11 ]. Finally, students express frustration in the context of treatment effectiveness [ 10 , 11 ]; that patients cannot be “fixed” or “cured”.…”

Effectiveness of a single day induction programme in changing medical students’ attitudes towards the speciality of forensic psychiatry

“…The findings of this study also mirror the positive attitude changes seen in other studies following a psychiatric attachment 10 or summer school. 11 Other studies have been non-clinical, but over a longer period of time. 11 In order to change an attitude towards a specialty, it is necessary to change one's perception of the specialty first.…”

“…11 Other studies have been non-clinical, but over a longer period of time. 11 In order to change an attitude towards a specialty, it is necessary to change one's perception of the specialty first. By introducing students to patients and clinicians within an extreme environment perceptions can be changed dramatically over a short period of time, and we have shown this to be a highly effective way of changing attitudes.…”

Psychiatry training experiences: a narrative synthesis

“…Providing high quality psychiatry experiences that showcase evidence-based practice and teach particular therapies in a supported environment may assist to counter the negative perceptions of psychiatry relayed to students and junior doctors, 8,25,30,31 and the poor perceptions of the status, importance and respect ascribed to psychiatry within the medical profession. 34,35 In addition, the authors hypothesise that this will improve the capacity of the junior medical workforce in psychiatry.…”