European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

The number of medical graduates opting for psychiatry as a career has been observed to be evidently less compared to those choosing other specialties. This study was undertaken to find out the attitudes of newly entrant medical students towards psychiatry and compared with the attitude of students in their internship. A total of 220 students were given the ATP 30 questionnaire. 112 1st year students and 91 interns completed the questionnaire. The scores obtained from both the groups indicated a more positive attitude towards psychiatry among the interns but the number of 1st years willing to become psychiatrists was larger. A conscious effort in trying to make psychiatry an active and interesting component of medical education via curriculum and training and destigmatising the medical society at large shall reduce stigma associated with it. It will help create immense interest in psychiatry among the undergraduate medical students and pave the way for more psychiatrists in the country