Forty year trends in selecting a psychiatric career.

Since 1950, between three and ten percent of American medical school graduates selected psychiatric careers. Until 1989, the direction of the ratio of medical school applicants to acceptance was the best predictor for medical school graduates entering psychiatry; a declining ratio predicts more students become psychiatrists. The decrease in number of graduates selecting psychiatry for 1989, 1990 and 1991 suggest new factors may be influencing career decisions. Women continue to select psychiatry in a greater proportion than men. In an attempt to understand the historical context of these trends and suggest implications and actions for the next decade, this paper presents data on the psychiatric career choice of U.S. medical school graduates beginning with the medical school graduates of 1950.