The first course in psychiatry. Some contributions to general medical education.

Abstract

AS PART of general medical education, the first course in psychiatry has the potential to influence attitudes toward the consideration of psychiatry as a career in relation to other career choices, the nature of mental illness and its treatment, and, among others, the interpersonal role of the doctor with patients in general. Current and future mental health manpower needs require that study be directed at the contribution of the first course in psychiatry in relation to the choice of psychiatry as a career, and its potential for increasing psychiatric knowledge and modifying attitudes among future nonpsychiatric specialists. This paper reports the results of a study the purpose of which was to assess the influence of the first course in psychiatry on a number of attitudes of medical students, and to investigate some aspects of its contribition to general medical education. Method Before and after the