The Effect of Clinical Clerkship on Students' Attitudes Toward Psychiatry in Karachi, Pakistan

Sajid, Ayesha; Khan, Murad Moosa; Shakir, Murtaza; Moazam-Zaman, Riffat; Ali, Asad

doi:10.1176/appi.ap.33.3.212

Cited by 21 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In particular, attitudes towards mentally ill patients improved significantly post clerkship and there was a correlation between similarly worded items on the Balon and MICA questionnaires, demonstrating a level of internal consistency between the two instruments. Improvements in attitudes towards patients post clerkship have been found in other studies [33,34] supporting the contact theory which proposes that contact with people with mental illness improves attitudes and acceptance towards mental illness [35]. There was also agreement between instruments regarding the scientific basis of psychiatry, which was positively rated on both the Balon and MICA, however, the MICA detected a small but significant negative change in this post clerkship.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…There was a significant increase in the consideration of psychiatry as a career which resulted in an additional 10 students who were ‘definitely considering’ psychiatry as a career post clerkship. Evidence of the impact of the clerkship on career preference is mixed, with some studies finding increases in the level of career interest post clerkship [34,39-41] and others finding no differences [32,33,42]. The clerkship structure, length of clerkship and specific cultural factors may account for the differences in career interest found in these studies that have been conducted in medical schools internationally.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Impact of a psychiatry clerkship on stigma, attitudes towards psychiatry, and psychiatry as a career choice

2015

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BackgroundMental illnesses are a major public health problem around the world and the prevalence and burden of common mental disorders is growing. Psychiatry is an unpopular career choice for many medical students and this impacts negatively on the supply of psychiatrists to the workforce. The psychiatry clerkship can play an important role in influencing students’ attitudes towards psychiatry, either positively or negatively. However, stigma towards mental illness detracts students from considering a career in psychiatry. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an eight week psychiatry clerkship on i) student knowledge and interest in psychiatry; ii) psychiatry as a career choice; iii) attitudes towards psychiatry; and iv) perceptions of stigma towards mental illness.MethodYear 4 medical students at the University of Western Australia completed two questionnaires, the Balon Attitudes Towards Psychiatry and the Mental Illness Clinicians Attitudes (MICA), at the beginning and end of the psychiatry clerkship. Interest in, knowledge of, and consideration of psychiatry as a career were also assessed. Non-parametric tests were used to compare baseline and follow-up differences on the Balon and MICA. Unpaired t-tests compared mean differences for interest, knowledge and psychiatry as a career.ResultsAttitudes towards psychiatry were positive at the beginning of the clerkship. Overall, there was a significant decrease in negative and stigmatising views towards mental illness post clerkship measured by the MICA, but the follow-up mean score remained close to the neutral value with views in some areas becoming more negative. There was no significant improvement in students’ interest in psychiatry post clerkship, however, knowledge of psychiatry improved significantly. Numbers of students ‘definitely considering’ psychiatry as a career increased significantly from 7 (4.6%) students at baseline to 17 (10.5%) at follow-up.ConclusionThe clerkship made a modest impact on students’ attitudes to psychiatry, stigma and consideration of psychiatry as a career. Integration of strategies to overcome stigma towards mental illness and the mental health profession into pre-clinical teaching may provide students with skills to prepare them for the clerkship. This may assist in improving attitudes towards psychiatry and encourage more students towards a psychiatry career.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Impact of a psychiatry clerkship on stigma, attitudes towards psychiatry, and psychiatry as a career choice

2015

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“…Although some authors claim that the clerkship is the strongest predictor of specialization in psychiatry[31,32], this suggestion has yet to be established[33]. Regarding this issue, Balon suggests that "most of the studies mix up the impact of the clerkship on attitudes toward psychiatry and psychiatry as a career choice", suggesting the need to separate these two aspects and to carry out research based on intervention studies rather than observational studies[34].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of clerkship in the attitudes toward psychiatry among Portuguese medical students

Xavier

Almeida

2010

BMC Med Educ

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BackgroundGiven the shortage of human resources and the launching of a new Mental Health Plan, recruitment of psychiatrists is currently a major concern in Portugal, as well as in several other countries. Medical students' attitude toward psychiatry has been pointed as a predictor of recruitment. This study aims to evaluate the medical students' perception of psychiatry before and after a clerkship, and the impact on their intention to pursue psychiatry as a future specialty option.MethodsTwo self-report questionnaires were administered to all 6th year students in a medical school in Lisbon, before and after a 4-weeks full-time psychiatric clerkship, in order to evaluate attitudes toward psychiatry and intention to follow psychiatry in the future. Statistical analysis included Wilcoxon and Chi-square tests.Results153 students (60.8% female) filled in both questionnaires (no dropouts). After the clerkship, there was a significant improvement regarding the overall merits of psychiatry, efficacy, role definition and functioning of psychiatrists, use of legal powers to hospitalize patients and specific medical school factors. There was also a significant increase of students decided or considering the possibility to take a residency in psychiatry.However, perceptions of low prestige and negative pressure from family and peers regarding a future choice of psychiatry remained unchanged in about one-third of the students.ConclusionsThe results indicate clearly that the clerkship had a favorable overall impact on the student attitude towards psychiatry, as well as in the number of students considering a future career in psychiatry. Attitudes toward psychiatry seems a promising outcome indicator of the clerkship's quality, but further research is needed in order to assess its reliability as a sound predictor of recruitment.

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“…[8,9] Most other reported surveys among psychiatry students relate to final-year students' attitudes to psychiatry or psychiatric illness, or to psychiatry as a career choice. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] One study conducted among 85 preregistration house officers in Norway had more similar objectives to those of our study, namely getting a sense of the learning benefits and learning environment of a psychiatry rotation. [18] This article reports on the findings of undergraduate medical students' evaluation of the final psychiatry rotation at the University of…”

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confidence: 72%

Medical students’ experience and perceptions of their final rotation in psychiatry

et al. 2015

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The Effect of Clinical Clerkship on Students' Attitudes Toward Psychiatry in Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract: Psychiatry teaching needs to be made more relevant to the rest of the medical curricula. This may improve students' interest and their future choice of psychiatry as an area of specialization.

Cited by 21 publications

References 10 publications

Impact of a psychiatry clerkship on stigma, attitudes towards psychiatry, and psychiatry as a career choice

Impact of a psychiatry clerkship on stigma, attitudes towards psychiatry, and psychiatry as a career choice

Impact of clerkship in the attitudes toward psychiatry among Portuguese medical students

Medical students’ experience and perceptions of their final rotation in psychiatry

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