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


METHODS
Two 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.


RESULTS
153 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.


CONCLUSIONS
The 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.
Xavier
Miguel
M
Department of Mental Health, CEDOC, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal. migxavier@gmail.com
Almeida
José C
JC
D001290:Attitude; D002321:Career Choice; D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010820:Physicians / Q000600:supply & distribution; D011174:Portugal; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires