Medical Students' Views on Psychiatry Curriculum
Author Information
Author(s): Clare Oakley, Femi Oyebode
Primary Institution: University of Birmingham
Hypothesis
What aspects of psychiatry do students perceive as relevant to their future careers before and after clinical placements?
Conclusion
Medical students believe that their teaching can be made more relevant by focusing on common scenarios they will encounter and better integrating psychiatry into the overall curriculum.
Supporting Evidence
- 92.2% of 4th years agreed that their psychiatry placement would be a valuable experience.
- More 5th years (79.2%) disagreed that psychiatry can only be learnt in a psychiatric hospital compared to 4th years (60.6%).
- 5th years were more likely to agree that knowledge of liaison psychiatry would be important to their future practice (72.1% vs 49.5%).
Takeaway
Students think learning about psychiatry should focus on skills they'll actually use in their jobs, like assessing suicide risk, rather than just specialized psychiatric knowledge.
Methodology
A questionnaire was distributed to medical students before and after their psychiatry placements to assess their opinions on the curriculum's relevance.
Potential Biases
The study design may have introduced bias by only including students who attended the lecture.
Limitations
The study only surveyed students who attended the lecture, potentially excluding a significant number of 5th years.
Participant Demographics
4th and 5th year medical students at the University of Birmingham.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.01
Statistical Significance
p<0.01
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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