The effect of clinical clerkship on students' attitudes toward psychiatry in Karachi, Pakistan.
OBJECTIVE
Attitudes of medical students toward a specialty is strongly related to their future choice of specialty. In developing countries like Pakistan, where there is a shortage of psychiatrists, there is a need to assess the effect of exposure to psychiatry on medical students.


METHODS
The authors conducted a survey of fourth-year medical students at Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan.


RESULTS
Psychiatry clerkship had an overall positive attitude toward psychiatric illness, patients, and psychiatrists, but no effect on students' choice of psychiatry as a career.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Sajid
Ayesha
A
Department of Psychiatry, Aga Khan University, Karachi 74800, Pakistan.
Khan
Murad M
MM
Shakir
Murtaza
M
Moazam-Zaman
Riffat
R
Ali
Asad
A
D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D002321:Career Choice; D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D013337:Students, Medical; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D000078329:Workforce