title: Iranian medical students' perception of psychiatry: before and after a psychiatry clerkship.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to compare the medical students' attitude towards psychiatry before and after psychiatry clerkship, and to examine the association of choosing psychiatry as a future career with some personal characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a self-controlled, quasi-experimental study, all of the medical students entering the psychiatry clerkship in three major medical schools of Iran located in Tehran (Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, and Iran University of Medical Sciences) were asked to participate anonymously in the study on the first and the last 3-days of their psychiatry clerkship. From 346 invited 4th-5th year medical students, 225 (65%) completed anonymous self-report questionnaires before and after a 4-week psychiatry clerkship.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Positive response to choose psychiatry as a career was seen in 13.3% and 18.3% before and after psychiatry rotation, respectively. However, the difference was not statistically significant; about one-quarter of the students were turned on to psychiatry and 25% were discouraged during the clerkship. Individual pair wise comparisons revealed significant improvements only in two out of 13 measured aspects of psychiatry. Seventeen out of 38 (47.7%) students who identified psychiatry as the career of choice or strong possibility reported that one of their family members or close friends' mental illness had an impact on their choice. Those students who considered psychiatry as the strong possibility claimed that they are more interested in humanities (OR = 2.96; 95% CI: 1.17, 7.49), and playing a musical instrument (OR = 2.53; 95% CI: 1.15, 5.57).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It may be concluded that exposure to psychiatry clerkship could influence medical students' opinion about psychiatry positively, or negatively. Personal characteristics and individual interests of students may play an important role in choosing psychiatry as their future career.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Psychiatry and Psychology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Homayoun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Amini
authors.forename: Ali-Akbar
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Nejatisafa
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shoar
authors.forename: Hosein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaviani
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Samimi-Ardestani
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shabani
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Esmaeili
authors.forename: Yasaman
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Moghaddam
keywords: Attitude; Career choice; Medical Students; Psychiatry; Psychiatry clerkship