Academic Psychiatry

The author acknowledges an awareness that “psychiatry as a career has been negatively viewed by medical students for decades.” A review of the literature was undertaken to assess the factors that attract to and detract from a possible career in psychiatry, and accessed a total of 32 articles from 22 countries, compiling data from over 12,000 students in 74 medical schools. Although, in general, the attitudes toward psychiatry as a discipline were positive, the practice of psychiatry as a career choice was regarded negatively. Students cited the perception of psychiatry as being less scientific, uncertain patient prognosis and emotional demands, lack of evidence-based treatment guidelines, and lower perceived prestige of the specialty.

Because of the prevalence and importance of substance use disorders in medical practice, and because there is a deficit of training in diagnosis and treatment of these disorders, the authors undertook a survey and evaluation of recent innovations in teaching, via web-based instruction. They surveyed and assessed a group of third-year medical students who received “streaming” lectures on substance use/addiction, versus those who received traditional, live lectures. More students completed the online lecture series; however, there was a slightly higher level of satisfaction with the live-lecture format. There was no difference in improvement on test scores pre- to post-lecture series. Data thus support the hypothesis that web-streamed learning can be as efficacious as classroom lectures for this training.

The authors examined students’ attitudes toward the use of specific substances, including non-prescribed prescription stimulants, as these relate to beliefs about professionalism. The students completed an anonymous survey on their use of alcohol, marijuana, and non-prescribed stimulants, along with their perceived stress level and incidence of suicidal ideation. Over one-third of these medical students reported “excessive” drinking during the past month; 5% reported stimulant use. Students who reported such use were less likely to view it as unprofessional, and a large number of respondents said they would not know how to help a classmate who was abusing stimulants.