What do final year medical students at the University of Papua New Guinea think of psychiatry?

Abstract

This study was conducted in 2004 to determine whether there was any difference between final year medical students who had rotated in psychiatry and those who had not, in terms of their preference for psychiatry as a career and their attitudes towards mental illness. A self-rated questionnaire was given to all the final year medical students at the University of Papua New Guinea. The results showed that the medical students in general had a negative attitude towards psychiatry as a career option and, although they were accepting of the mentally ill in a professional setting as colleagues or patients, they had a negative attitude towards close social contact with them as neighbours or as in-laws. Several students believed mental illness could be caused by sorcery or by spending much time with the mentally ill. Most students believed mental illness could be treated by prayer, one in five believed in the effectiveness of traditional healers and one in five did not believe modern medicine could treat mental illness. Apart from a reduction in stigma and in prejudice against a mentally ill neighbour, there was no significant difference in attitude between students who had rotated in psychiatry and those who had not. There was no significant difference in attitude between male and female respondents. There were, however, significant differences in attitude between students who had a positive family history of mental illness and those who did not. It was concluded that psychiatry was an unpopular choice for specialization and that students' attitudes towards mental illness were influenced more by their cultural beliefs and their family history of mental illness than by their rotation in psychiatry. These external variables that are independent of their medical training need to be considered during undergraduate medical training in order to optimize the provision of health care to the mentally ill in Papua New Guinea.