Changes in attitudes of medical students towards psychiatry: An evaluation of a clerkship in psychiatry

The attitudes to psychiatry of medical students before and after their clinical rotation in psychiatry were assessed during the course of the academic year 1989-1990 by a questionnaire administered before and after the clerkship. Analysis of the data indicated that although there was no major shift in attitudes, the clerkship did succeed in improving clinical skills such as the capability for a better understanding of patients and the improvement of doctor-patient relations, as well as giving the student a more realistic approach to the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of mentally ill patients.