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How Much Psychiatry Are Medical Students Really Learning?

A Reappraisal After Two Decades

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Abstract

The results of a survey conducted in 1986 of the attitudes of nonpsychiatric house staff toward their psychiatric training in medical school were compared with the results of a similar survey conducted in 1966. Compared to the 1966 cohort, the 1986 cohort reported markedly reduced emphasis on the teaching of psychodynamics and an increased emphasis on neurobiology. Psychiatry continued to be regarded as the most poorly taught and the least well learned subject in medical school. However, a significantly smaller proportion of the later cohort than the earlier group felt they had not learned as much psychiatry as they would need to practice medicine. Areas of teaching singled out for criticism included the quality of instruction and its relevance to patient management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NIMH Neuropsychiatric Research Hospital, Washington, D.C., USA

    David G. Daniel M.D. (medical director)

  2. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, USA

    Claudia L. Clopton M.D. (resident in psychiatry)

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, 37232, USA

    Pietro Castelnuovo-Tedesco M.D. (James G. Blakemore professor of psychiatry)

Authors
  1. David G. Daniel M.D.
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  2. Claudia L. Clopton M.D.
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  3. Pietro Castelnuovo-Tedesco M.D.
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Additional information

At the time of this research Dr. Daniel was a resident in psychiatry and Dr. Clopton was a medical student at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Copies of the questionnaire used in this study are also available from Dr. Castelnuovo-Tedesco.

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Daniel, D.G., Clopton, C.L. & Castelnuovo-Tedesco, P. How Much Psychiatry Are Medical Students Really Learning?. Acad Psychiatry 14, 9–16 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03341846

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