Abstract
Objective
To assure adequate treatment for patients with mental illness worldwide, medical schools must impart positive attitudes toward psychiatry. The authors examined the effect of culture on changes in attitudes toward psychiatry among medical students receiving the same psychiatry clerkship curriculum in two different countries.
Methods
A group of 74 students from Weill Cornell Medical College-New York and 32 from Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar completed pre- and post-clerkship questionnaires assessing their attitudes toward psychiatry.
Results
On the pretest, the Qatar students had less positive attitudes than the New York students, as evidenced by lower group mean total scores. During the clerkship, the attitudes of students at both schools improved, but more markedly in Qatar, narrowing the group differences.
Conclusions
A psychiatry clerkship with a U.S.-derived curriculum had a positive effect on medical students ’ attitudes toward psychiatry in Qatar, suggesting the usefulness of applying such curricula across cultures.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
World Health Organization: Mental Health and Development: Targeting People With Mental Health Conditions as a Vulnerable Group, p 8; www.who.int/mental_health/policy/mhtargeting
Thornicroft G, Brohan E, Kassam A, et al: Reducing stigma and discrimination: candidate interventions. Int J Ment Health Syst 2008; 2:3
Wallace JE: Mental health and stigma in the medical profession. Health (London). Jan 2012; 16:3–18
Lingeswaran A: Psychiatric curriculum and its impact on the attitude of Indian undergraduate medical students and interns. Indian J Psychol Med 2010; 32:119–127
Lau AY, Offord DR: A study of student attitudes toward a psychiatric clerkship. J Med Educ 1976; 51:919–928
Xavier M, Almeida JC: Impact of clerkship in the attitudes toward psychiatry among Portuguese medical students. BMC Med Educ 2010; 10:56
Sajid A, Khan MM, Shakir M, et al: The effect of clinical clerkship on students’ attitudes toward psychiatry in Karachi, Pakistan. Acad Psychiatry 2009; 33:212–214
Bourgeois JA: Academic psychiatry: an international, innovative specialty. Acad Psychiatry 2011; 35:349–353
Fischel T, Manna H, Krivoy A, et al: Does a clerkship in psychiatry contribute to changing medical students’ attitudes towards psychiatry? Acad Psychiatry 2008; 32:147–150
http://data.worldbank.org/country/qatar
Adewuya AO, Makanjuola RO: Social distance towards people with mental illness amongst Nigerian university students. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2005; 40:865–868
Kermode M, Bowen K, Arole S, et al: Attitudes to people with mental disorders: a mental health literacy survey in a rural area of Maharashtra, India. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2009; 44:1087–1096
Nielsen AC, Eaton JS: Medical students’ attitudes about psychiatry: implications for psychiatric recruitment. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1981; 38:1144–1154
Balon R, Franchini GR, Freeman PS, et al: Medical students’ attitudes and views of psychiatry. Acad Psychiatry 1999; 23:1
Ghuloum S, Bener A, Burgut FT: Epidemiological survey of knowledge, attitudes, and health literacy concerning mental illness in a national community sample: a global burden. J Prim Care Community Health 2010; 1:111–118
Lauber C, Rössler W: Stigma towards people with mental illness in developing countries in Asia. Int Rev Psychiatry 2007; 19:157–178
Economou M, Peppou LE, Louki E, et al: Medical students’ beliefs and attitudes towards schizophrenia before and after undergraduate psychiatric training in Greece. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2012; 66:17–25
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tuna Burgut, F., Jonathan Polan, H. Influence of Clerkship on Attitudes of Medical Students Toward Psychiatry Across Cultures: United States and Qatar. Acad Psychiatry 37, 187–190 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.11100184
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.11100184