Medical Student Attitudes and Anticipated Choice of Psychiatric Specialty

Abstract

Attitudes toward psychiatric disease and the biopsychosocial model were studied to determine their relation to career choice in psychiatry. A cross-sectional sample of 319 undergraduate medical students and 24 Medical Behavioral Science Faculty participated in the study. Differences related to gender, undergraduate major, class, and anticipated medical specialty were found to be related to scores on nine attitudinal factors. Students planning to specialize in primary care and psychiatry shared similar and relatively accepting attitudes toward a biopsychosocial mode of illness, but diverged with respect to attitudes toward psychiatric illness. The implications of this finding with regard to psychiatric education and recruitment are discussed. The data also suggests that first year Medical Behavioral Science curriculum, which focuses on direct student exposure to psychiatrists and other interdisciplinary faculty working with medical patients, can positively influence attitudes.