title: Do medical students' attitudes toward psychiatry and their intention to pursue psychiatry as a career change during psychiatric attachment?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the attitudes of medical students toward psychiatry and their intention to pursue psychiatry as a career; and to determine if they change after psychiatric attachment. It also examined the relationship between the students' characteristics and their attitudes in details.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pre and post-surveys using Likert-type scales were conducted versus 106 medical students of Ahwaz Jondishapour University who entered psychiatric attachment between spring 2007 and spring 2010. They completed a demographic form and an "attitude toward psychiatry" questionnaire with two excess questions which measured their intention to pursue psychiatry as a career in future.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of students appeared to have favorable attitudes before the attachment which improved during the course; but they didn't show significant change in their intention to pursue psychiatry as a prospective career. There was a significant correlation between age and change in attitudes. Also the career intention was significantly correlated with their attitudes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study confirms previous reports that training can change students' attitudes toward psychiatry, but contrasting with them suggests that negative attitudes are not likely to be the main cause of the low career intention to psychiatry. Thus, teaching psychiatry can get the students rid of their negative attitudes but is not enough to encourage them to pursue psychiatry as a career. The authors suggest it is based on poor opportunities for postgraduates in the field and social stigma attached to psychiatry, which needs further studies.
authors.affiliation: Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences,Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Niloofar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khajeddin
authors.affiliation: Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences,Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Foroughe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Riahi
authors.affiliation: Behbahan industrial University,Iran.
authors.forename: Mhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salehi Veysi
authors.affiliation: Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences,Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Hajar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hoseyni
authors.affiliation: Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Sakineh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Izadi Mazidi
keywords: Attitudes; Career choice; Clinical clerkship; Medical students; Psychiatry