Kim Jae, Blum Brian, Kaushal Shivani, Khan Sara, Hardigan Patrick, Villalba Clara Alvarez
Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C Patel College of Allopathic Medicine, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
HCA Florida Aventura Hospital, Aventura, FL.
HCA Healthc J Med. 2023 Dec 30;4(6):415-420. doi: 10.36518/2689-0216.1569. eCollection 2023.
Stigma associated with mental illness (MI) permeates many professions, including healthcare. Recognizing and correcting bias is critical in delivering impartial and beneficial healthcare for all patients. Early educational interventions providing exposure to individuals with MI have shown to be effective at reducing MI stigma. The primary aim of our study was to assess the impact of a psychiatry clerkship on attitudes to MI. A secondary aim was to determine if the psychiatry clerkship influenced medical students' perceptions of psychiatry as a career.
A cohort of third-year medical students in Florida was invited to complete an online survey before and after participating in their first 4-week-long psychiatry clerkship during the 2021-2022 academic year. The voluntary, anonymous survey consisted of the Attitudes to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) and a 3-item questionnaire on interest and knowledge in psychiatry. The Wilcoxon Sign-Rank test was used to determine statistical significance ( < .05) for pre- and post-clerkship values.
Among 39 invited students, 22 participated before (56.4%), and 23 participated after their psychiatry rotation (59.0%). Overall, there was a statistically significant increase in the perceived level of general interest in psychiatry ( = .027), psychiatry knowledge ( < .001), and career interest in psychiatry ( = .040). There was also a significant decrease in the stigmatized attitude score for depression and self-harm after their psychiatry rotation ( = .042). Finally, the participants initially showed the highest stigmatized attitude score for intravenous drug abuse among the 4 mental illnesses presented, which also included depression and suicidal ideation, alcohol use disorder, and schizophrenia.
The findings suggest that a psychiatry clerkship provided a positive exposure to the field, enhanced medical students' overall interest in psychiatry, and positively impacted medical students' attitudes towards MI.
与精神疾病（MI）相关的污名化现象在包括医疗保健在内的许多行业中普遍存在。认识并纠正偏见对于为所有患者提供公正且有益的医疗保健至关重要。早期教育干预措施让学生接触患有精神疾病的个体，已证明在减少对精神疾病的污名化方面是有效的。我们研究的主要目的是评估精神科实习对精神疾病态度的影响。次要目的是确定精神科实习是否会影响医学生对精神科作为一种职业的认知。
邀请了佛罗里达州一批三年级医学生在参加2021 - 2022学年首个为期4周的精神科实习前后完成一项在线调查。这项自愿、匿名的调查包括精神疾病态度问卷（AMIQ）以及一份关于对精神科的兴趣和知识的3项问卷。采用Wilcoxon符号秩检验来确定实习前后值的统计学显著性（<0.05）。
在39名受邀学生中，22名在实习前参与了调查（56.4%），23名在精神科轮转后参与了调查（59.0%）。总体而言，对精神科的总体兴趣感知水平（P = 0.027）、精神科知识（P < 0.001）以及对精神科的职业兴趣（P = 0.040）在统计学上有显著增加。精神科轮转后，对抑郁和自我伤害的污名化态度得分也有显著下降（P = 0.042）。最后，在呈现的4种精神疾病（还包括抑郁和自杀意念、酒精使用障碍以及精神分裂症）中，参与者最初对静脉药物滥用的污名化态度得分最高。
研究结果表明，精神科实习让学生对该领域有了积极的接触，增强了医学生对精神科的总体兴趣，并对医学生对精神疾病的态度产生了积极影响。
