Predicting Medical Students’ Current Attitudes Toward Psychiatry, Interest in Psychiatry, and Estimated Likelihood of Working in Psychiatry: A Cross-Sectional Study in Four European Countries

Abstract

Psychiatry as a medical discipline is becoming increasingly important due to the high and increasing worldwide burden associated with mental disorders. Surprisingly, however, there is a lack of young academics choosing psychiatry as a career. Previous evidence on medical students’ perspectives is abundant but has methodological shortcomings. Therefore, by attempting to avoid previous shortcomings, we aimed to contribute to a better understanding of the predictors of the following three outcome variables: current medical students’ attitudes toward psychiatry, interest in psychiatry, and estimated likelihood of working in psychiatry. The sample consisted of N = 1,356 medical students at 45 medical schools in Germany and Austria as well as regions of Switzerland and Hungary with a German language curriculum. We used snowball sampling via Facebook with a link to an online questionnaire as recruitment procedure. Snowball sampling is based on referrals made among people. This questionnaire included a German version of the Attitudes Toward Psychiatry Scale (ATP-30-G) and further variables related to outcomes and potential predictors in terms of sociodemography (e.g., gender) or medical training (e.g., curriculum-related experience with psychiatry). Data were analyzed by linear mixed models and further regression models. On average, students had a positive attitude to and high general interest in, but low professional preference for, psychiatry. A neutral attitude to psychiatry was partly related to the discipline itself, psychiatrists, or psychiatric patients. Female gender and previous experience with psychiatry, particularly curriculum-related and personal experience, were important predictors of all outcomes. Students in the first years of medical training were more interested in pursuing psychiatry as a career. Furthermore, the country of the medical school was related to the outcomes. However, statistical models explained only a small proportion of variance. The findings indicate that particularly curriculum-related experience is important for determining attitudes toward psychiatry, interest in the subject and self-predicted professional career choice. We therefore encourage the provision of opportunities for clinical experience by psychiatrists. However, further predictor variables need to be considered in future studies.

There Is a Limit to Your Openness: Mental Illness Stigma Mediates Effects of Individual Traits on Preference for Psychiatry Specialty

“…Our data showed no significant gender differences in preference for the psychiatry specialty, which is in line with previous studies (56–58), but see (12) for different results. MICA-2 levels were higher in male than in female individuals, but no significant gender differences were reported for RIBS scale nor for the fear of specific mental illnesses, except for the fear of eating disorders, which was in line with literature showing a predominantly female incidence (59, 60).…”

“…Our results show that psychiatry is not among the first-choice specialties for future medical careers, which is in line with research on similar samples in European countries (56). Furthermore, our prediction regarding the relationship between preference for psychiatry, personality traits, and mental illness stigma was only partially confirmed: in line with research in this domain (4, 5, 10–14), a preference for the psychiatry specialty was found to be significantly and positively associated with the openness to experience trait.…”

Career choice and influential factors among medical students majoring in psychiatry in China

“…Previous studies suggested that one of the most often stated reasons by the students for considering psychiatry at matriculation and as a career was their sincere interest in this field [18,38]. Hence, building up students' interest in psychiatry and giving more chance to students with real inherent interest in psychiatry for admission would be essential strategies for increasing the number of students who ultimately pursue a career in psychiatry [39].…”

Factors influencing medical students and psychiatry residents in Ghana to consider psychiatry as a career option – a qualitative study

“…However, even with this particular speciality in high demand, stigma against mental illness and the practice of psychiatry remains (Bhugra et al ., 2015 ). Although residents matching into psychiatry in the United States has increased (Weiner, 2018 ), the severe shortage continues in low- and middle-income countries (Hailesilassie et al ., 2017 ; Warnke et al ., 2018 ).…”