Introduction: Medical students tend to have a neutral or negative attitude to Psychiatry as a discipline. This study was initiated to explore the attitude towards Mental illness and Psychiatry among the Medical students and Interns in Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences (KUSMS).Method: A cross-sectional Questionnaire based study was conducted among the Medical students and Interns at Dhulikhel Hospital (Kathmandu University Hospital). Two self-rating scales; Attitudes towards psychiatry (ATP-30) and Attitudes to mental illness (AMI) were used to assess attitudes towards mental illness and Psychiatry among the total 159 subjects. Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-test applied using SPSS-16 for analysis.Results: Among the total 159 subjects, 56.6% were males and 27.7% were Interns. Comparison of means of each item in ATP-30 and AMI was done between Males and Females, Medical students and Interns, First semester and Ninth semester students. Most of the subjects showed neutral attitude towards all the scoring items; though there were a few significant differences in mean scores of some items in group wise comparison.                                                             Conclusions: Overall attitudes towards Mental illness and Psychiatry among the Medical students and Interns in our Medical School were positive or neutral. A further study with medical students from different institutions is needed to get a detail nationwide picture.                                  Key words: Attitude, Interns, Medical Students, Mental illness, Psychiatry.

Background A variety of psychiatric manifestations can be seen in children below the age of 18 years. Such cases rarely present directly to psychiatric care. Methods Retrospective study in Tertiary care hospital . The study population included all the patients of paediatric age group presenting to Psychiatry Outpatient Department of Dhulikhel Hospital directly or referred by a paediatrician or other specialists from October 2008 to October 2010. Results Among the paediatric population evaluated in the psychiatry clinic for two years from October 2008 to October 2010 (N=168), 66.7% were in the age group 15-18 years {mean = 14.77 (±2.99)}, 71.4% were female and 42.3% belonged to Brahmin cast. The highest number of (15%) patients was seen during the month of August 2010. Six months analysis of the psychiatric illnesses of the patients from April 2010 up to October 2010 (n=80) showed dissociative disorder (15%), and seizure disorder (15%) to be the most common diagnoses, followed by depressive disorder and intentional self harm (ISH) (13.8% each). 15% of patients were found to be treated by magico-religious means, with the majority of patients (66.7%) diagnosed as having dissociative disorder. Conclusion The majority of the paediatric population presenting to a psychiatry clinic were in the age group 15-18 years and of female sex. Dissociative disorder was the most common diagnosis followed by depressive disorders. The majority of patients with dissociative disorder had previously been treated by magico-religious means.http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/kumj.v8i4.6235 Kathmandu Univ Med J 2010;8(4):375-81

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njog.v5i1.5055 NJOG 2010 Jul-Aug; 5(1): 17-20