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Senior Medical Students’ Attitudes Toward Psychiatry as a Career Choice Before and After an Undergraduate Psychiatry Internship in Iran

Academic Psychiatry volume 37, pages 196–201 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective

The study aimed to assess 1) the attitudes of medical students in the sixth and seventh years (known as interns in Iran) toward psychiatry as a career choice, and 2) the degree of attractiveness of psychiatry as a career choice, with regard to various defined aspects, before and after an undergraduate psychiatry internship (similar to the medical school psychiatry rotation in the United States, but mandatory in Iran) in three major medical schools in Tehran, the capital of Iran.

Methods

Sixth- and seventh-year medical students (locally called interns, N=347) at Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, and Iran Universities of Medical Sciences were consecutively invited to complete anonymous self-report questionnaires designed to assess their perceptions of careers in psychiatry before and after internship in psychiatry wards. Also, students evaluated psychiatry in terms of the factors that reflected the degree of attractiveness of this specialty.

Results

Positive responses toward choosing psychiatry as a career were seen in 18.8% before and 20.0% after psychiatry rotation. No significant differences were observed in the positive responses before and after psychiatry internship. The students’ opinions changed to a more attractive degree in terms of only 3 out of the 13 defined aspects. There was also no significant difference in the total score on attractiveness of psychiatry before and after the psychiatry internship.

Conclusions

The study indicated that undergraduate psychiatry internship might not induce more students to consider psychiatry

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Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Psychiatry, USA

    Homayoun Amini M.D., M.P.H., Yasaman Moghaddam M.D., Ali-Akbar Nejatisafa M.D., Hosein Kaviani Ph.D. & Amir Abbas Keshavarz Akhlaghi M.D.

  2. Psychiatry and Psychology Research Center, USA

    Homayoun Amini M.D., M.P.H. & Ali-Akbar Nejatisafa M.D.

  3. Development Association of Clinical Studies, USA

    Sara Esmaeili M.D., M.P.H., Saeed Shoar M.D. & Mostafa Mafi M.D.

  4. Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies, USA

    Alireza Noroozi M.D.

  5. School of Advanced Medical Sciences, USA

    Alireza Noroozi M.D.

  6. Mental Health Research Center, USA

    Amir Shabani M.D. & Amir Abbas Keshavarz Akhlaghi M.D.

  7. Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK

    Hosein Kaviani Ph.D. & Mehdi Samimi-Ardestani M.D.

  8. Imam Hosein Hospital, Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mehdi Samimi-Ardestani M.D.

Authors
  1. Homayoun Amini M.D., M.P.H.
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  2. Yasaman Moghaddam M.D.
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  3. Ali-Akbar Nejatisafa M.D.
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  4. Sara Esmaeili M.D., M.P.H.
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  5. Hosein Kaviani Ph.D.
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  6. Saeed Shoar M.D.
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  7. Amir Shabani M.D.
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  8. Mehdi Samimi-Ardestani M.D.
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  9. Amir Abbas Keshavarz Akhlaghi M.D.
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  10. Alireza Noroozi M.D.
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  11. Mostafa Mafi M.D.
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Correspondence to Homayoun Amini M.D., M.P.H..

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Amini, H., Moghaddam, Y., Nejatisafa, AA. et al. Senior Medical Students’ Attitudes Toward Psychiatry as a Career Choice Before and After an Undergraduate Psychiatry Internship in Iran. Acad Psychiatry 37, 196–201 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.10120171

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.10120171

Keywords

  • Medical Student
  • Career Choice
  • Academic Psychiatry
  • Acad Psychiatry
  • Psychiatry Clerkship