Medical students' attitudes toward mental disorders before and after a psychiatric rotation
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1-2005
Abstract
Objective: This study examines medical students' attitudes about mental illness before and after a six-week psychiatry rotation. Methods: Six hundred seventy-two third-year students at Indiana University completed pre- and postrotation surveys assessing attitudes about causes and treatments of mental illness. We conducted paired sample t tests to identify pre- and postrotation differences in attitudes. Results: Following the rotation, students perceived biological and social causes of mental disorders as more important and treatments as more effective but showed no change in their beliefs about the importance of working with families. Conclusions: Participation in a psychiatry rotation can strengthen student attitudes about biologically- and socially-based causes and community based treatments for mental illness. Copyright © 2005 Academic Psychiatry.
Publication Title
Academic Psychiatry
First Page Number
357
Last Page Number
361
DOI
10.1176/appi.ap.29.4.357
Recommended Citation
Galka, Steven W.; Perkins, David V.; Butler, Nancy; Griffith, Deborah A.; Schmetzer, Alan D.; Avirrappattu, George; and Lafuze, Joan Esterline, "Medical students' attitudes toward mental disorders before and after a psychiatric rotation" (2005). Kean Publications. 2610.
https://digitalcommons.kean.edu/keanpublications/2610