Impact of clinical posting in psychiatry on the attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness in undergraduate medical students

BACKGROUND: A major public health problem around the world today is mental illness. Although there are several studies on the topic, it is rarely conducted in the context like the current study. AIMS: This study aims to find out the attitudes of medical students towards psychiatry and mental illness as a clinical medicine major and evaluate the effects of clinical posting on their attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness. METHODS: This is a longitudinal study of 6 months’ duration conducted with students in their fifth semester of medical college in Western India during the academic year of 2016–2017. The participants were assessed by pro forma containing demographic details, and the questionnaires—Attitude Towards Psychiatry-30 items (ATP-30) scale and Mental Illness Clinician’s Attitude (MICA) scale, which were presented to the students at the beginning and at the end of their psychiatry clinical posting. The statistical analysis was done with GraphPad, InStat V.3.06. A p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The students’ attitudes towards psychiatry were neutral at the beginning of the psychiatry clinical posting, and improved significantly at the end of the posting on both scales: ATP-30 (p=0.002) and MICA (p=0.048). The students became more positive towards the subject and mental illness in general, negative attitudes also reduced but the change was not statistically significant (p=0.058). We found significant improvement in students’ thinking towards being a psychiatrist in the future post-term (p=0.0002). The changes in attitude in terms of gender were equivocal, with an increase in positive attitude and reduction in negative attitude post-term in both sexes. CONCLUSION: Psychiatry clinical posting aids in cultivating positive attitude towards psychiatry and mental illness and reduces the stigma associated with the students of this major and psychiatric patients.