Psychiatry as a career choice compared with other specialties: A survey of medical students

Rajagopal, Sundararajan; Rehill, Kamaljit Singh; Godfrey, Emma

doi:10.1192/pb.28.12.444

Cited by 80 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Positive placement experiences have been shown to improve students' attitudes to psychiatry (Eagles et al 2007) and positive attitudes of teachers at medical school can be influential in helping students choose psychiatry as a career (McParland et al 2003;Dein et al 2007). Despite these positive influences, psychiatry is often viewed as a lower status specialty among both students and professionals (Hunt et al 1996;Eagles et al 2007) and is seen by students as an unattractive career choice about which they often hold misconceptions (Rajagopal 2004). This was a single medical school survey as are most recent surveys of medical student attitudes to psychiatry attitudes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student attitudes to psychiatry and their clinical placements

Budd¹,

Kelley²,

Day³

et al. 2011

Medical Teacher

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Background: Medical students consistently report low rates of interest in psychiatry as a career over time with negative perceptions of the specialty. Only 3-6% of students enter the specialty. Aim: To explore medical students' current career choices and attitudes to psychiatry and factors affecting these. Methods: Medical students at four UK medical schools completed a questionnaire related to career specialty choices and psychiatry and their psychiatry placement experiences. Results: A total of 905 questionnaires were returned. Psychiatry was first career specialty choice in 4% but in the top three choices in 14%. The students in this group who had undertaken clinical placements were more positively inclined towards psychiatry, given more opportunities to practice and receive feedback on psychiatric skills, and more inclined to practice psychiatry later. Conclusion: One in seven students is interested in psychiatry. Psychiatrists need to find ways to identify these students and target them with individually tailored interventions to help recruitment into the specialty.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student attitudes to psychiatry and their clinical placements

Budd¹,

Kelley²,

Day³

et al. 2011

Medical Teacher

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“…The longstanding factors that have dissuaded medical students and newly qualified doctors from pursuing a career in psychiatry have already been well described in literature in the USA 3,[5][6][7][8][9][10] and there is a growing evidence base in the UK. 1,[11][12][13] Although individual factors have been identified, the constellation of all the key issues in the UK has not yet been addressed collectively.…”

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confidence: 99%

UK crisis in recruitment into psychiatric training

2013

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SummaryPsychiatry recruitment in the UK is in crisis. In this paper we review reasons and solutions for the current predicament, focusing on the UK situation. We assert that there are specific national issues over and above more general and well-established ones, such as stigma and bad-mouthing, which need to be considered. These include factors that are an unintended consequence of recent changes in postgraduate training, as well as the organisation of the National Health Service. We conclude with some suggestions for psychiatrists, whether trainee or consultant, to help address the situation.

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“…Goldacre et al (2004) found that only 4.3% of all respondents in the first year after their graduation signified that psychiatry was their first choice of long-term career, and there had been very little change between 1974 and 2000. Psychiatry was the least popular clinical specialty in a London medical school (Rajagopal et al, 2004).…”

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confidence: 99%

‘Why did I become a psychiatrist?’: survey of consultant psychiatrists

Dein¹,

Livingston

Bench

2007

Psychiatr. bull.

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Aims and MethodTo find out why consultant psychiatrists chose psychiatry as a career. A questionnaire was developed and posted to 87 consultant psychiatrists in substantive posts within a London psychiatric training scheme.ResultsThe survey had a response rate of 83% (72 out of 87). The majority of consultants (n=40) chose psychiatry as a career after leaving medical school. The most important reasons cited were empathy with the patient group (36.1%), the interface of psychiatry with the neurosciences (25%), the better working conditions expected in psychiatry (20.8%) and medical school teaching of the subject (19.4%).ConclusionsThe study highlights the need for recruitment efforts after medical school. The findings also reflect the lasting influence of medical school exposure to psychiatry. Interventions for improving recruitment in psychiatry are suggested. The under-recruitment of British medical graduates is masked by overseas recruitment into the specialty.

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Psychiatry as a career choice compared with other specialties: A survey of medical students

Cited by 80 publications

References 10 publications

Student attitudes to psychiatry and their clinical placements

Student attitudes to psychiatry and their clinical placements

UK crisis in recruitment into psychiatric training

‘Why did I become a psychiatrist?’: survey of consultant psychiatrists

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