Psychiatry Rotation Research Articles

Training in the Management of Psychobehavioral Conditions: A Needs Assessment Survey of Emergency Medicine Residents.

Mental health-related ED visits are increasing. Despite this trend, most emergency medicine (EM) residency programs devote little time to psychiatry education. This study aimed to identify EM residents' perceptions of training needs in emergency psychiatry and self-confidence in managing patients with psychobehavioral conditions. A needs assessment survey was distributed to residents at 15 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited EM programs spanning the U.S. Survey items addressed amount and type of training in psychiatry during residency, perceived training needs in psychiatry, and self-confidence performing various clinical skills related to emergency psychiatric care. Residents used a 5-point scale (1=nothing; 5=very large amount) to rate their learning needs in a variety of topic areas related to behavioral emergencies (e.g., medically clearing patients, substance use disorders). Using a scale from 0 to 100, residents rated their confidence in their ability to independently perform various clinical skills related to emergency psychiatric care (e.g., differentiating a psychiatric presentation from delirium). Of the 632 residents invited to participate, 396 (63%) responded. Twelve percent of respondents reported completing a psychiatry rotation during EM residency. One of the 15 participating programs had a required psychiatry rotation. Residents reported that their program used lectures (56%) and/or supervised training in the ED (35%) to teach residents about psychiatric emergencies. Most residents reported minimal involvement in the treatment of patients with psychiatric concerns. The majority of residents (59%) believed that their program should offer more education on managing psychiatric emergencies. Only 14% of residents felt "quite" or "extremely" prepared to treat psychiatric patients. Overall, residents reported the lowest levels of confidence and highest need for more training related to counseling suicidal patients and treating psychiatric issues in special populations (e.g., pregnant women, elderly, and children). Most EM residents desire more training in managing psychiatric emergencies than is currently provided.

Changing attitudes to psychiatry and interest in the specialty as a career choice during clinical undergraduate years at a medical school in Penang, Malaysia.

Studies have suggested that the undergraduate clinical clerkship improves medical students' attitudes to psychiatry and career interest in the specialty, but few studies have explored the sustainability of these changes. To explore changes in students' attitudes to psychiatry and career preference for psychiatry during the course of their senior clinical years at RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus (RUMC). All year 3 students (n = 111) at RUMC were invited to complete the Attitudes towards Psychiatry questionnaire (ATP-30) and a separate questionnaire seeking opinions on career preferences. The questionnaires were administered at 3 points in time: in year 3 before the 8-week psychiatry posting, following completion of the posting in year 4, and at the end of year 5. Quantitative data analysis was performed using SPSS version 18, and free-text responses were thematically analysed. One hundred completed questionnaires (90.1%) were returned. There was a significant improvement in students' ATP scores after their psychiatry rotation and this was sustained into year 5. Psychiatry as a career choice had highest preference levels following completion of the clerkship but declined in year 5 to below pre-clerkship preference levels. Qualitative analysis of factors influencing a career in psychiatry revealed themes of job satisfaction, lifestyle factors, perceived image of psychiatry, and self-appraisal. Our findings suggest that an enriched undergraduate clinical clerkship experience can help to sustain improved attitudes to psychiatry into the final medical year. However, declining interest in the specialty a career choice prior to graduation presents an enduring challenge.

Medical students' experiences in learning the Mental State Examination with standardized patients.

Standardized patients are widely used in psychiatry teaching and examinations, but their effectiveness in teaching psychopathology and the Mental State Examination in particular has not been established. A mixed-methods study was undertaken amongst fourth year medical students during a psychiatry rotation to explore the usefulness of learning the Mental State Examination with standardized patients compared with real patients. Qualitative semistructured interviews (N=10) were done to explore learning experiences with standardized patients. The Experience with Standardized Patients Scale was used (N=200) for the quantitative assessment in relation to examination performance and learning experience. In qualitative interviews, the common themes were that the experience with standardized patients was not natural and made it difficult to suspend disbelief, but students recognized the usefulness of standardized patients for practicing their skills. While there was no significant relationship between overall student experiences with standardized patients and their examination performance in the end-of-rotation Observed Standardized Clinical Examination (P=.40), the exception was with those who perceived they learnt more communication skills with standardized patients (P=.002). Students' experience with standardized patients role-playing psychotic disorders was poorest compared with standardized patients role-playing depressive and neurotic disorders. There were statistically significant differences in experiences between the three diagnostic groups. Standardized patients are useful in psychiatry for students to practice and improve their skills in eliciting psychopathology. However, attention to the training and selection of these individuals for psychiatric roles are crucial.

Integrated Care: Should It Count as Community Psychiatry Training for Psychiatry Residents?

Psychiatry residents are required to be exposed to community psychiatry. Historically, this occurred in public hospitals or assertive community treatment (ACT) teams. A new model of psychiatric care delivery, integrated care, has become prevalent. While integrated care shares some features with traditional community psychiatry rotations, no research exists to demonstrate if integrated care rotations can accomplish the aims of traditional rotations. This pilot study compared learning outcomes in ACT team rotations versus integrated care rotations. Pre- and post-rotation surveys were disseminated to third-year psychiatry residents (N = 8) who were randomized to complete a rotation with an ACT team or an integrated care team. By rotation end, many in both settings changed how conservative they were in treatment philosophies, but this did not result in a difference between groups. Residents in both groups were satisfied with their rotations. Training in integrated care may be a reasonable alternative to traditional community psychiatry rotations.

The impact of a psychiatry clinical rotation on the attitude of South African final year medical students towards mental illness

BackgroundStigmatising attitudes of health care professionals towards mental illness can impede treatment provided for psychiatric patients. Many studies have reported undergraduate training to be a critical period for changing the attitudes of medical students, and one particularly valuable intervention strategy involves time spent in a clinical psychiatric rotation. In South Africa, medical students are exposed to a clinical rotation in psychiatry but there is no evidence to show whether this has an effect on attitudes toward mental illness.MethodsThis prospective cohort study involved a convenience sample of 112 South African medical students in their 5th or 6th year of undergraduate training. This sample attended a 7-week psychiatry rotation. The Attitudes to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) was used to assess students’ attitudes toward mental illness before and after the clinical rotation which includes exposure to a number of psychiatric sub-divisions and limited didactic inputs.ResultsThere was a significant improvement (p < 0.01, t-test) in the students’ attitude toward mental illness following the psychiatric rotation. Females displayed a more positive attitude towards mental illness at the end of the rotation compared to males. The participants’ attitude significantly deteriorated for the non-psychiatric vignette describing diabetes (< 0.01, t-test).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that clinical training and exposure to a psychiatric setting impacts positively on medical students’ attitude towards mental illness, even when this training does not include any focused, didactic anti-stigma input.

Reducing Stigma Towards Psychiatry Among Medical Students: A Multicenter Controlled Trial

Objective: Stigma towards people with mental illness and psychiatry is prevalent among healthcare providers, including medical students, and might adversely affect medical care. This study examined the effect of including a novel Anti-stigma Intervention Curriculum (ASIC) during rotation in psychiatry. It addressed medical students' stigmatic views towards psychiatric patients and psychiatric treatments, and the knowledge base of clinical practice in psychiatry. Methods: Medical students from eight hospitals were divided into intervention (one hospital, n=57) and control (seven hospitals, n=163) arms at the beginning of a 6-week psychiatry rotation throughout one academic year (2017/18). The students completed the Attitudes to Psychiatry scale (ATP-30) and the Attitudes toward Mental Illness scale (AMI) at rotation onset and conclusion. The ASIC was designed to target prejudices and stigma by direct informal encounters with people with severe mental illness during periods of remission and recovery, and under the supervision of the group's tutors. Small group discussions were held following those encounters to facilitate processing of the thoughts and emotions that emerged during the encounters, and to discuss salient topics, such as psychiatric care, evidence-based medicine in psychiatry, and the neuroscientific underpinnings of clinical psychiatry. Results: ATP-30 scores in the intervention group increased from 108.51±13.02 to 115.27±14.09 (t=2.65, df=111, p<0.01), and the AMI scores from 73.51±7.40 to 76.93±5.95 (t=2.71, df=111, p<0.01). ATP-30 scores in the control group also increased significantly (from 107.99 ±13.45 to 111.28±14.87; t=2.07, df=315, p=0.04), but there was no significant increase in their AMI scores. There was a significant reduction in the proportion of students endorsing stigmatic statements on core issues: specifically, views about people with mental illness, psychiatric treatments, the knowledge base of clinical practice in psychiatry, and psychiatry as a possible career choice only in the intervention group. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that implementing an ASIC that includes live social contact and small group discussions during psychiatry rotation seem to be effective in reducing medical students' stigmatic positions towards people with mental illness, psychiatric treatments, the knowledge base of clinical practice in psychiatry, and psychiatry as a profession. The long-term destigmatizing effects of an ASIC and its applicability in academic settings, warrant further evaluation. Funding: Our research was not funded. All the physicians who participated in the study volunteered to reduce stigma among medical students and did not receive any payment. Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article. Ethical Approval: The study was conducted after receiving Helsinki ethics committee approval for a multicenter study. Because the ethics committee approval was on the condition that individual data will be de-identified, we used aggregated pre- and post-rotation data for each item of the Attitudes to Psychiatry (ATP-30)22 and the Attitudes to Mental Illness (AMI).

Türkiye’deki Psikiyatri Hekimlerinin Adli Psikiyatri Bilgi Düzeyi Nedir? “Sizce Adli Psikiyatri Bir Yan Dal Olmalı mıdır?”

Amaç: Adli Psikiyatri pek çok ülkede hali hazırda psikiyatrinin bir yan dalı olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Ancak ülkemizde henüz yapılandırılmış bir eğitimi yoktur. Bu çalışmayla, psikiyatri hekimlerinde, sağlık hukuku temel bakış açısıyla adli psikiyatri alanında biriken bilginin düzeyini ölçmek ve camiada adli psikiyatrinin yan dal olmasına bakış açısını ve bunun belirleyicilerini saptamak istedik.&#x0D; Yöntem: Veriler, Türkiye’de psikiyatri hekimlerinin çoğunluğunun üye olduğu elektronik posta grubunda duyurulmak suretiyle, internet anketi yöntemi ile elde edilmiştir. Örneklemi, çalışmaya katılmayı kabul eden Türkiye genelinde bulunan, kamu (Devlet Hastanesi, Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Üniversite Hastanesi) (184 kişi) ve özel hastaneler (8 kişi) ile özel muayenehanede (15 kişi) görev yapan 207 psikiyatri hekimi oluşturmaktadır. Veri toplama araçları olarak, araştırmacılar tarafından oluşturulan “Demografik Bilgiler Anketi” ile “Psikiyatri Hekimlerinin Sağlık Hukukundaki Bilgi Düzeylerinin Saptanması Bilgi Düzeyi Anketi” kullanılmıştır.&#x0D; Bulgular:Bilgi Düzeyi Anketi’ne verilen 1 ve 5 puan arasındaki cevapların ortalaması 3,44 olarak saptanmıştır. Araştırmaya katılan hekimlerin 187’si (%90,3’ü) Adli Psikiyatrinin bir yan dal olarak tanımlanması gerektiğini düşünürken, 20’si (%9,7’si) ise gerek olmadığını ifade etmiştir. Cinsiyet, unvan, Adli psikiyatri rotasyonu yapmış olma, 8. Soruya doğru yanıt verme kontrol edildiğinde tek başına yaş arttıkça Adli Psikiyatriyi yan dal olarak istememe artmaktadır.&#x0D; Tartışma: Bilgi düzeyi ortalaması unvandan, mesleki tecrübeden, eğitim alınan kurum tipinden, asistanlık döneminde pratik ya da teorik adli psikiyatri eğitimi alıp almamaktan etkilenmemektedir. Bunun sebebi hekimlerin kendi çabaları ile bu bilgilere ulaşma çabaları olabilir. Tecrübeli hekimlerin adli psikiyatriyi yan dal olarak daha az görmek istemelerinin nedeni, bu hekimlerin, psikiyatristlerin psikiyatriyi bir bütün olarak ele almaları ve adli mevzulara da psikiyatrinin en az ...

Early Clinical Exposure to Geriatric Psychiatry and Medical Students’ Interest in Caring for Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

In the next 25 years, the population aged 65 and older will nearly double in many countries, with few new doctors wishing to care for older adults. The authors hypothesize that early clinical exposure to elderly patient care could increase student interest in caring for older adults during their future career. The authors conducted a pragmatic medical education randomized controlled trial (RCT) at the Jewish General Hospital and the Douglas Mental Health Institute, McGill University, in Montreal, Canada. Third-year medical students undergoing their mandatory 16-week half-time clerkship rotation in psychiatry were randomly assigned to the equivalent of 2-4 weeks of full-time exposure to clinical geriatric psychiatry (n = 84). Being randomly assigned to geriatric psychiatry exposure (n = 44 of 84) was associated with increased "comfort in working with geriatric patients and their families" at 16-week follow-up (59.1% versus 37.5%, χ2 (1) = 3.9; p = 0.05). However, there was no significant association found between geriatric psychiatry exposure and change "in interest in caring for older adults," or change in "interest in becoming a geriatric psychiatrist." The results of this pragmatic education RCT suggest that exposing third-year medical students to 2-4 weeks of geriatric psychiatry did not increase their interest to care for older adults or become a geriatric psychiatrist. However, it did increase their comfort level in working with older adults and their families. However, more research is necessary to identify potential interventions that could inspire and increase medical student interest in caring for older adults as part of their future careers.

32.3 Entrusting Trainees to Work in Integrated Care: Evaluation Methods for an Integrated Care Rotation in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

The objectives of this Clinical Perspective are as follows: 1) to describe the broader context for evaluation in child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship training; 2) to describe the unique clinical knowledge and skills needed to evaluate in pediatric integrated care; and 3) to describe how entrustable professional activities (EPAs) can be used to evaluate trainees in integrated care.

3.43 Expanding Outpatient Experience for Psychiatry and Pediatric Residents During Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Rotation to Meet Challenges of the Changing Health Care

Because of a shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists, pediatricians and adult psychiatrists are often the first line of care for children and older adolescents, respectively, with behavioral and mental health issues. We expanded our outpatient mental health experience to provide adult psychiatry (AP) residents and pediatric residents (PRs) with a comprehensive outpatient clinical training experience within child and adolescent psychiatry. The goal of the new curriculum was to expand their insight into the world of outpatient child and adolescent psychiatry and to allow them to play an active role within a collaborative team of providers from different specialties.

2017 Program Director Survey: Feedback from your adult neurology residency leadership.

To survey adult neurology program directors (PDs) and inform the future development of neurology training programs. All US adult neurology PDs were invited to complete the survey. The goals were to determine the demographic makeup of residency programs, characterize curricula, understand PD and program needs, and compare results to those of a similar survey in 2007. The response rate was 70.6%. PD demographics for age, faculty track status, and academic rank remain unchanged over the last decade. The proportion of female PDs and assistant PDs has increased significantly. The mean number of residents per training program has also increased significantly. Female PDs are more likely to have a junior academic rank than their male colleagues. Disparities remain between the PDs' time spent on teaching/program administration and salary support. Most PDs support moving fellowship applications later in the training cycle. The majority of PDs find the Clinical Competency Committee process useful in assessing resident competence. A minority of PDs feel that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Milestones meet their intended purpose. Half of programs include a curriculum to supplement the clinical experience on child neurology rotations. A third of programs include a supplemental curriculum for psychiatry rotations. The majority of programs offer a general fund for residents to use to support their education. Deficiencies exist in compensation for PDs' teaching and administrative time and for academic promotion for female PDs. These results serve as a benchmark for comparison across programs and the basis to advocate for further improvements and support for neurology residency training.

The Barriers and Benefits to Developing Forensic Rotations for Psychiatry Residents.

Psychiatry residents' experiences in forensic psychiatry vary greatly across the country, and many psychiatry programs meet the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements for a forensic experience through general psychiatry rotations (e.g., on a consult-liaison service) or classroom-based activities. Forensic clinical experiences during psychiatry residency are important for preparing future general psychiatrists for practice with justice-involved patients, generating interest in forensic psychiatry, and easing the transition from "healer to evaluator" for future fellows. Unfortunately, residency programs interested in expanding their forensic training may face many challenges because of current regulatory frameworks, the nature of forensic practice, and competing demands within residency training programs. This article describes these challenges, and the experience of the authors at one institution with developing a novel forensic experience in a criminal justice diversion setting. The authors conclude with some practical considerations for educators interested in developing forensic experiences at their institutions.

An Interview With Addiction Psychiatrist Dr. Christoffel Le Roux

An Interview With Addiction Psychiatrist Dr. Christoffel Le Roux

How a Birthday Celebration Changed the Course of My Life

How a Birthday Celebration Changed the Course of My Life

Difficult medical encounters and job satisfaction - results of a cross sectional study with general practitioners in Germany

BackgroundIn primary care 15% of patient encounters are perceived as challenging by general practitioners (GP). However it is unknown what impact these encounters have regarding job satisfaction. The aim of this study was to evaluate which encounters are perceived as challenging by German GPs and whether they were associated with job satisfaction.MethodsA total of 1538 questionnaires were sent to GPs in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. GPs should rate 14 medical conditions and 8 traits of patients on the perceived challenge using a Likert scale (1: ‘not challenging at all’ to 10: ‘extremely challenging’). Job satisfaction was measured with the Warr–Cook–Wall job satisfaction scale. A linear regression analyses were used to explore potential associations between for the primary outcome variable ‘overall job satisfaction’.ResultsTotal response was 578 (38%). GPs perceived 16% of their patients as challenging. Psychiatric disorders such as somatization disorder (mean = 7.42), schizophrenia (mean = 6.83) and anxiety disorder (mean = 6.57) were ranked as high challenging while diabetes mellitus type 2 (mean = 4.87) and high blood pressure (mean = 3.22) were ranked as a rather low challenging condition. GPs were mostly satisfied with ‘colleagues’ (mean = 5.80) and mostly dissatisfied with their ‘hours of work’ (mean = 4.20). The linear regression analysis showed no association with challenging medical conditions and traits of patients but only with different aspects of job satisfaction concerning the outcome variable ‘overall job satisfaction’.ConclusionsEspecially psychiatric conditions are perceived as challenging the question arises, in what amount psychiatric competences are gained during the postgraduate specialty training in general practice and if GPs with a mandatory rotation in psychiatry perceive these conditions as less challenging. Interestingly this study indicates that challenging encounter in terms of challenging medical conditions and traits of patients do not affect GP’s job satisfaction.

Are Clerks Ready For Clerkship? Third Year Medical Students' Anatomical Science Knowledge vs. Clerkship Director Expectations

IntroductionCompetency‐based medical education (CBME) has been mandated across Canada for residency programs, encouraging undergraduate medical education (UME) programs to adopt this model. Schulich is undergoing a curriculum renewal to implement CBME at the UME level; however, there is limited research on how to effectively integrate anatomical sciences into a CBME model. Further, the anatomical concepts taught, and pedagogical methods employed, varies widely across curricula. Currently at Schulich, the anatomical science knowledge that clerkship directors expect students to learn prior to clerkship, and how much anatomical science knowledge current students retain, is unclear. By determining the effectiveness of the current anatomical science curriculum, we can inform the design and delivery of anatomical sciences into the CBME model. Thus, the specific aims of this research are to: (1) determine which anatomical science concepts are necessary for clerkship, and (2) assess third‐year medical students' anatomical science knowledge retention prior to and at the completion of each clerkship rotation. It was hypothesized that (1) paediatrics clerkship directors would deem embryology more important, compared to clerkship directors for surgery, where gross anatomy would take precedence. Furthermore, (2) third‐year medical students would score low on the pre‐test, due to limited knowledge retention after completing pre‐clerkship, and score higher on the post‐test as a result of the learning that takes place during clerkship.Methods(1) Questionnaires were created and used to guide interviews with all UME clerkship directors to determine which anatomical science concepts are thought to be necessary for each clerkship rotation. Interviews were transcribed and coded according to anatomical science themes mentioned. (2) Using information from Aim 1, a multiple choice assessment was created for each rotation to measure students' anatomical knowledge prior to and at the completion of each clerkship rotation.ResultsEmbryology was the most prevalent anatomical science theme, and histology was the least. When analyzing each rotation, embryology was most prevalent for surgery, paeds, and family med., while imaging, neuroanatomy, and gross anatomy took precedence for internal med., psychiatry, and OB/GYN, respectively. Preliminary assessment results for four rotations reveal that students entering OB/GYN, family med., and psychiatry rotations achieved an average passing grade (&gt;60%) on the pre‐test, while students entering paeds did not. When comparing the pre‐ and post‐tests, there was a significant improvement for students completing the paeds rotation (p=.009, d=.95).ConclusionEmbryology being the most prevalent theme in surgery, paeds, and family med., and second most frequent in OB/GYN, suggests that these specialties rely on knowledge of normal development. Preliminary assessment data indicated that even though students entering paeds did not achieve an average passing grade on the pre‐test, which could be due to the challenging embryological concepts, this group of students displayed significant improvement on the post‐test, suggesting that learning of embryological concepts occurs during the rotation. The concepts deemed necessary by clerkship directors will be mapped to where and how they are taught within the current curriculum, which will elucidate curricular strengths and weaknesses, and help guide the curriculum reform.Support or Funding InformationOntario Graduate ScholarshipThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Review of mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX) in a psychiatry clerkship.

BackgroundDirect observation of medical students with actual patients is important for the assessment of clinical skills including interviewing and counseling skills. This article describes medical students’ experience of mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX) during their clerkship in consultation psychiatry.Materials and methodsIn our center during inpatient consultation psychiatry clerkship, all rotating students are expected to complete one mini-CEX assessment as part of their clinical training. We conducted retrospective analysis of mini-CEX ratings completed from 2013 to 2016. All evaluations took place at inpatient medical setting in patients admitted with medical conditions and psychiatric comorbidities.ResultsA total of 113 evaluations were reviewed. The time examiner observed the interaction of a student with the patient was 14.24 minutes (mean), and the time spent in providing feedback to the student was 9.71 minutes. Complexity of problem was rated as low in 0.88% (n=1), moderate in 50.44% (n=57), and high in 48.67% (n=55). Highest ratings were for professionalism, similar to previous reports. Total score calculated by examiner showed no difference by the complexity of the patient; however, we observed a trend in higher counseling score for the high complexity group.ConclusionMini-CEX assessment during busy clerkship is feasible with good outcomes. Direct observation of medical trainees with actual patients is important for the assessment of performance-based clinical skills. Hospital psychiatry rotation covering various medical and surgical units offers a great opportunity for exposure in patient communication.

Preparing junior doctors for emergency psychiatric experience: a peer-led teaching programme

PurposeJunior doctors rotating through psychiatry often practise in isolated environments with little prior experience in this field. This can cause anxiety amongst doctors, and may potentially lead to patient safety concerns. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachA novel peer-led simulation style teaching session was developed to improve junior doctor knowledge and confidence when working with psychiatry rotations out of hours.FindingsFollowing successful completion of two iterations of the teaching, junior doctors reported increased confidence, reduced anxiety and a more positive attitude following the session. Facilitators were similarly positive in their feedback, being able to gain formal teaching experience and appraisal.Originality/valueA novel, inexpensive and easily replicable teaching session is introduced, which can improve junior doctors’ practice and experience when working in psychiatry settings out of hours.

Psychoanalysis in Britain 1893–1913: Histories and Historiography By Phillip Kuhn. Lexington Books. 2017. £80.00 (hb). 468 pp. ISBN 9781498505222

Psychoanalysis in Britain 1893–1913: Histories and Historiography By Phillip Kuhn. Lexington Books. 2017. £80.00 (hb). 468 pp. ISBN 9781498505222 On completing his psychiatry rotation as a 1960s medical student, your reviewer was presented by his consultant with a valedictory book. Not Freud

Mental illness stigma among medical students and teachers.

Medical school curriculum contributes to future doctors' attitude formation towards people with mental illness. The purpose of this study was to compare stigmatizing attitudes between medical students and faculty, analyse stigmatizing attitudes among students from different years of study and identify factors predicting stigma. A cross-sectional study with the use of scales measuring attitudes and social distance was designed. Online questionnaires were distributed to all students and teachers at a medical faculty in the Czech Republic. The response rate was 32.1% ( n = 308) among students and 26.7% ( n = 149) among teachers. Teachers had a greater prevalence of stigmatizing attitudes than students. Increased tolerant attitudes in students were detected after the fourth year, that is, following introduction to psychiatry. Preferred specialization in psychiatry and attending two psychiatry courses predicted more tolerant attitudes. Among both students and teachers, men possessed more stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental illness. Age was an important predictor of stigmatizing attitudes among teachers. Educators should pay closer attention to the role of medical psychology and communication training implementation, which may be beneficial to improving skills and increasing medical students' self-esteem and feeling of competence throughout their psychiatry rotation.