Views of psychiatry among medical students. Eight years after

Introduction: The aim of the study is to assess changes in the opinions of medical students from UAB towards psychiatry in an 8-year period. Subjects and method: With a cross-sectional design, we administered the Balon et al (1999) questionnaire to 90 medical students after the psychiatry rotation in 2005. The results of this sample have been compared with a previous study carried out under the same conditions with 91 students in 1997. Results: Compared to 1997, the students of 2005 have a greater perception of advance and scientific rigor of psychiatry and of clarity of the psychiatrist's functions. In addition, the students of 2005 have a lower perception of social pressure if they show interest in the specialty. These changes co-occur with a greater perception of the teaching quality and an increase in the rate of students who show interest in choosing psychiatry as a professional future (2.2% in 1997 vs. 5.6% in 2005). Conclusions: This better perception of the teaching quality could have influenced the increase of vocational tendencies towards psychiatry. © 2010 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.