Attitudes of Medical Students in Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences Towards Psychiatry



Toudehskchuie GG¹ ; Rahmani M¹ ; Nikfarjam M² Show Affiliations
Source: Journal of Isfahan Medical School Published:2012

Abstract

Background: There is a dearth of literature in the Iranian context about medical students' attitude towards psychiatry and their desire to choose psychiatry as a career in future. Commonalities and differences in the attitudes of male and female medical students towards psychiatry and their interest in psychiatry were the themes of this study. Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, we screened the entire 1127 medical students registered at Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Iran, during the academic year of 2011-12. The 29-item attitude towards psychiatry scale (ATP-30) (Burra et al.) was used. The reliability of the scale (Cron-bach's alpha) has been calculated as 0.712. About 83% of the students (n = 130) returned the completed questionnaires. We used SPSS16 to analyze the data by descriptive and analytical tests including student-t, one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Turkey's post hoc test, and linear regression. Findings: Female students held more positive attitudes toward psychiatry compared to their male counterparts. However, post hoc Tukey test results confirmed no significant differences between male and female students at the basic science of any of the studied component. Linear regression test showed that among all components of the attitude scale, the component of Individual rewards and occupational opportunities of psychiatry had a greater share in shaping students' attitudes toward psychiatry. However, all the five subscales of ATP-30 could only explain 0.09% of the students' interest in psychiatry. Conclusion: Gender differences play a key role in forming the attitudes of medical students towards psychiatry. However, they are subjected to numerous social, familial, economic and situational considerations which make the effects of gender insignificant. It might be a good idea to assess the attitudes of candidates towards psychiatry at the time of admission. Female candidates might also be preferred in this field.