Skip to main content

Three-Year Longitudinal Follow-up of the Psychiatry Early Experience Program (PEEP): Gaining and Sustaining Positive Attitudes Towards Psychiatry in Students at a UK Medical School

Academic Psychiatry volume 43, pages 600–604 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective

The Psychiatry Early Experience Programme (PEEP) is a novel enrichment activity at Kings College London medical school. Throughout their five-year degree, students shadow trainee psychiatry doctors. The study aimed to evaluate whether more regular early exposure affects attitudes towards psychiatry.

Methods

Forty first-year medical students joined PEEP and completed a baseline survey, including questions on demographics, current top three choices of medical specialty and the 30-item Attitudes Towards Psychiatry questionnaire (ATP-30). Participants completed annual follow up surveys, incorporating free-text questions about what students had learned and whether their views about psychiatry had changed.

Results

Over three years there was a sustained improvement in mean ATP-30 scores (8.27 points higher at three years than at baseline [95% CI 2.86-13.7, T=3.2, p=0.005]). There was no significant difference between baseline specialty choice and specialty choice at three-year follow-up. At three years there was a 55% response rate. There was no significant association between non-responders at three years and baseline ATP-30, specialty choice or demographic factors. Thematic analysis of qualitative data suggested that PEEP challenged preconceptions towards psychiatry and highlighted its relevance in medicine.

Conclusions

The results offer some support that exposure to clinical psychiatry through longitudinal shadowing experiences can sustain positive attitudes. Areas for development include using a control group and following-up participants to the point when they specialize. It remains unclear whether it is most effective to select participants based on established commitment to psychiatry or to try to influence students who are still undecided.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  1. Ajaz A, David R, Brown D, Smuk M, Korszun A. BASH: badmouthing, attitudes and stigmatisation in healthcare as experienced by medical students. BJPsych Bull. 2016;40(2):97–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Stuart H, Sartorius N, Liinamaa T. Images of psychiatry and psychiatrists. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2015;131:21–8.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Farooq K, Lydall G, Bhugra D. What attracts medical students towards psychiatry? A review of factors before and during medical school. Int Rev Psychiatr. 2013;25(4):371–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Wiesenfeld L, Abbey S, Glover S, Abrahams C. Choosing psychiatry as a career: motivators and deterrents at a critical decision-making juncture. Can J Psychiatr. 2014;59(8):450–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Qureshi H, Carney S, Iversen A. Narrative review of the impact of clinical psychiatry attachments on attitudes to psychiatry. Psychiatrist. 2013;37:104–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Lyons Z. Impact of the psychiatry clerkship on medical student attitudes towards psychiatry and to psychiatry as a career. Acad Psychiatry. 2014;38(1):35–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Farooq K, Lydall G, Malik A, Ndetei D, ISOSCCIP group, Bhugra D. Why medical students choose psychiatry – a 20 country cross-sectional survey. BMC Med Educ. 2014;14:12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Sartorius N, Gaebel W, Cleveland HR, Stuart H, Akiyama T, Arboleda-Florez J, et al. WPA guidance on how to combat stigmatization of psychiatry and psychiatrists. World Psychiatry. 2010;9(3):131–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Weintraub W, Plaut SM, Weintraub E. Recruitment into psychiatry: increasing the pool of applicants. Can J Psychiatr. 1999;44:473–7.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  10. University of Maryland School of Medicine. In: University of Maryland School of Medicine, editor. Year 1/Year 2 Electives [online]. Baltimore; 2016. Available from: http://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/OME/Curriculum/Preclinical-Curriculum/Year-1Year-2-Electives/ [accessed 5 January 2019].

  11. Mortlock A-M, Puzzo I, Taylor S, Kumari V, Young S, Sengupta S, et al. Enrichment activities in the medical school psychiatry programme – could this be a key to engaging medical students in psychiatry? A study from a high secure forensic psychiatric UK hospital. BMC Psychiatry. 2017;17:83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Beattie S, Lister C, Khan J, Cornwall P. Effectiveness of a summer school in influencing medical students’ attitudes towards psychiatry. Psychiatrist. 2013;37:367–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Andermann L, Desouza C, Lofchy J. The psychiatry institute for medical students: more than a decade of success. Acad Psychiatry. 2010;32:150–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lyons Z, Hans D, Janca A. Future proofing the psychiatry workforce in Australia: evaluation of an innovative enrichment programme for medical students. Australas Psychiatry. 2015;23(5):584–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Lau T, Zamani D, Lee EK, et al. Factors Affecting recruitment into psychiatry: a Canadian experience. Acad Psychiatry. 2015;39:246–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lyons Z, Power B, Bilyk N, Lofychy J, Claassen J. Evaluating the Claassen Institute of Psychiatry for medical students. Australas Psychiatry. 2010;18(1):12–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Burra P, Kalin R, Leichner P, Waldron JJ, Handforth JR, Jarrett FJ, et al. The ATP 30—a scale for measuring medical students’ attitudes to psychiatry. Med Educ. 1982;16(1):31–8.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Lyons Z. Psychiatry Enrichment Initiatives: a review of current programs, summer schools and institutes. Acad Psychiatry. 2017;41(2):266–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Lyons Z. Establishment and implementation of a psychiatry enrichment programme for medical students. Australas Psychiatry. 2016;25(1):69–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Tully PJ, Baker RA. Depression, anxiety, and cardiac morbidity outcomes after coronary artery bypass surgery: a contemporary and practical review. J Geriatr Cardiol. 2012;9(2):197–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    Clare Holt, Ross Mirvis, Jianan Bao, Shoshana Cross, Osman Hussain, Helen Hutchings, Emily Marshall, Henna Qureshi & Francesca Turner

  2. Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, London, UK

    Charlotte Wilson-Jones

Authors
  1. Clare Holt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ross Mirvis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jianan Bao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shoshana Cross
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Osman Hussain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Helen Hutchings
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Emily Marshall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Henna Qureshi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Francesca Turner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Charlotte Wilson-Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ross Mirvis.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approved by the King’s College London Ethics Committee.

Disclosures

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Holt, C., Mirvis, R., Bao, J. et al. Three-Year Longitudinal Follow-up of the Psychiatry Early Experience Program (PEEP): Gaining and Sustaining Positive Attitudes Towards Psychiatry in Students at a UK Medical School. Acad Psychiatry 43, 600–604 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-019-01092-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-019-01092-0

Keywords

  • Psychiatry
  • Recruitment
  • Enrichment Activities
  • Attitudes