Recruitment of Physicians in Austria for Graduate Medical Training in Psychiatry

Objectives Recruitment and retention of suitable graduates for graduate education in psychiatry is one of the major challenges for the specialty. This study aimed to explore how many physicians intended to be psychiatrists and how many of those physicians practising as psychiatrists originally desired this area of expertise. Methods In this cross-sectional study, a self-administered 12 item questionnaire was sent out twice to all licensed physicians (n = 8127), based on the register of the Vienna Medical Chamber. Results A total of 2570 respondents completed the questionnaire validly. 50.3% of all physicians did not achieve their desired subject, whilst 86% of psychiatrists did so. These results present the highest percentage compared to other medical specialties. Further, 6% of all physicians initially defined psychiatry as their desired medical career regardless whether they attained this specialty later on or not. Conclusion Compared with other specialties the average number of physicians who practice a specialty different from the one desired is low in psychiatry. This fact constitutes a favourable aspect with regard to recruitment of graduates for specialty training in psychiatry.