title: Factors influencing French medical students towards a career in psychiatry.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is a need to increase the recruitment to psychiatry in France. Our aim in this study was to compare factors influencing career choice between French medical students considering and not considering psychiatry as a specialty.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quantitative cross-sectional online survey on 145 French students in their last year of medical school.
  
  
  RESULTS
  22.7% of our sample considered choosing a career in psychiatry. A preference for a career in psychiatry was associated with more frequent history of personal/familial mental illness, higher ratings of psychiatric teaching, more weeks of compulsory psychiatry teaching and placement, during which students had more often met patients in recovery and been asked their opinion on patients. Students considering psychiatry as a career also emphasized more the need for a good work-life balance, and presented better attitudes toward psychiatry.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Improving opportunities of interactions between students and psychiatrists or psychiatric patients might help to improve recruitment in psychiatry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychiatry, University Hospital of Besancon, Besancon Cedex, France. olivier.andlauer@gmail.com
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Andlauer
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guicherd
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haffen
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sechter
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bonin
authors.forename: Kitty
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Seed
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lydall
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.forename: Dinesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bhugra
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Howard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D003625:Data Collection; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires