The attitudes of Israeli medical students toward residency in psychiatry

Objective: The authors analyze attitudes toward psychiatry residency of Israeli medical students in preclinical years, compared with similar U.S. data. Methods: A 23-item questionnaire was administered anonymously to 181 Israeli medical students in their preclinical years and was completed by 70% of the students present. Results: Psychiatry was ranked most attractive as far as intellectual challenge was considered and least attractive when the degree to which it draws upon all aspects of medical training was considered. Our study shows that 32.8% of the Israeli medical students in the preclinical years consider residency in psychiatry, compared to 7.7% in the U.S. and 15.9% in Australia, using the same questionnaire and methodology. Conclusions: The population of students interested in family medicine and neurology, as well as those interested in the humanities, should be the source of psychiatry residents, and their faith in the psychiatric paradigm should be strengthened.