Influence of educational programs on attitudes of medical students towards psychiatry: Effects of psychiatric experience, gender, and personality dimensions.
BACKGROUND
Attitudes of medical students form the basis for medical actions. Because of the specific characteristics of psychiatric patients, positive attitudes of medical students towards psychiatry should be a higher goal in medical education.


OBJECTIVE
We hypothesize that medical students in different educational programs develop different attitudes towards psychiatry.


METHODS
In a cross-sectional study, students enrolled in different educational programs completed the 'attitudes towards psychiatry' questionnaire (ATP-30). Data concerning experiences in psychiatry, personality traits and socio-demographic variables including gender were also analyzed.


RESULTS
The response rate of students in the PBL-curriculum (n = 61) was >90%, in the traditional curriculum (n = 280) >75%. Attitudes towards psychiatry of male students in the Problem-Based Learning program were equal to the female students' attitudes in both programs. Female students' attitudes in the traditional curriculum reached comparably good results while male students' displayed the worst attitudes. The personality factors 'openness to experience' and 'agreeableness' correlated significantly with positive attitudes towards psychiatry. PBL-students showed significantly more 'openness to experience'.


CONCLUSIONS
Educational programs might play a role for the development of attitudes towards psychiatry, especially in male students. Factors influencing enrollment into special educational programs should also have been taken into account. An independent study with a larger number of participants will be required to support these findings.
Kuhnigk
O
O
Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Martinistr. 52, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany. o.kuhnigk@uke.de
Hofmann
M
M
Böthern
A M
AM
Haufs
C
C
Bullinger
M
M
Harendza
S
S
D001290:Attitude; D002321:Career Choice; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D018794:Problem-Based Learning; D011570:Psychiatry; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult