Attitudes toward psychiatry as a prospective career among medical students in their pre-clinical year in China- a pilot study.

Xuyi Wang,Wei Hao,Xiaojun Xiang,Tieqiao Liu,Qiyong Gong

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073395

Abstract

ObjectiveTo understand the attitudes among medical students in China toward different medical specialties and to find the factors that influenced their choice of career in psychiatry.MethodsA questionnaire was developed and administered to 287 medical students at the Xiangya Medical College, Central South University in Changsha, China. All the students were asked to rate the importance of five possible factors in choosing a specialty as a vocation: the ability to help patients, interesting and challenging work, lifestyle factors, financial reward, and prestige.ResultsStudents reported negative perceptions of psychiatry in regard to all five possible factors that were important in choosing a specialty as a vocation, especially in financial reward and prestige.ConclusionsMedical students in China have negative attitudes toward psychiatry as a career. Some negative beliefs about psychiatry seem to be due to erroneous or insufficient knowledge that could be corrected during the course of medical education. Some negative attitudes were unlikely to be completely changed until the mental health system in China improves.

Highlights

Mental health is an essential component of health
The burden of mental illnesses has been increasing in all regions of the world, such increase may be more dramatic in China [2], which can partly be understood as a consequence following rapid social changes in recent decades
Most general hospitals do not have clinics specializing in mental illnesses, and many clinicians, other than psychiatrists and psychologists, lack awareness and fail to effectively identify symptoms of mental disorders

Summary

Introduction

Mental health is an essential component of health. Mental disorders can affect individual quality of life and national productivity [1]. The number of mental health institutions and doctors lags far behind the need for mental health services. Most general hospitals do not have clinics specializing in mental illnesses, and many clinicians, other than psychiatrists and psychologists, lack awareness and fail to effectively identify symptoms of mental disorders. To cope with this situation, China adopted the nation’s first mental health law in 2012. The new law requires general hospitals to set up mental health clinics under the guidance of government health departments and requires training of medical workers. The law acknowledged that many more psychiatrists are needed in China

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Results

Conclusion