| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2018 | Volume
: 7
| Issue : 3 | Page : 106-113 |
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Does clinical posting in psychiatry change attitude towards psychiatry? A prospective study
Animesh Sharma1, GK Vankar1, PB Behere2, KK Mishra3
1 Department of Psychiatry, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Sawangi (Meghe), Wardha, Maharashtra, India
2 D Y Patil Education Society (Deemed University) Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India
3 Department of Psychiatry, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, Maharashtra, India
Correspondence Address:
G K Vankar
Department of Psychiatry, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Sawangi (Meghe), Wardha - 442 001, Maharashtra
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/JCSR.JCSR_47_18
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Background: Worldwide, mental illnesses are on rise. There is an acute shortage of psychiatrists. Young medical graduates find psychiatry specialty a less attractive career option. The present study was conducted to find out attitudinal change of medical graduates to psychiatry specialty after their clinical posting.
Methods: The study was carried out in a tertiary medical care centre situated in eastern Maharashtra in a rural setting. The medical graduates undergo rotation which includes clinical posting in psychiatry while they are in second year. One hundred medical students were administered Attitudes Towards Psychiatry-30 (ATP-30) questionnaire at the beginning and the end of two weeks of posting.
Results: The response rate was 93% and the mean pre-rotation score on ATP-30 questionnaire was not significantly different as compared with the mean post-rotation score [107 ± 11.7 (SD) vs. 106 ± 12.4 (SD); (p=NS)]. Subgroup analysis revealed a significant decline [56 ± 6.4 vs. 54 ± 6.6 (p< 0.05)] in attitude on 15 positive questions of the questionnaire. Students with urban background [(55.8 ±6.6 vs 58.6 ± 9.3 (p=0.88)] as compared with rural background [58.1 ± 3.2 vs 53.9 ± 6.1 (p=0.03)] had significantly more decline on ATP-30 questionnaire.
Conclusions: Overall, there was no change in medical students' attitude following two weeks clinical posting. Based on these findings medical curriculum including duration and frequency of clinical posting in psychiatry during undergraduate training requires change.
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