Background
Methods
Study setting
Sampling plan
Item development
Original item(s) | Revised items for analysis and item number (total items for each construct) |
---|---|
Perceptions of psychiatry as a discipline (n = 5)
| |
Item 1: Psychiatry is unscientific. | |
Psychiatry has very little scientific information to go on [21]. | |
Psychiatry is so unscientific that even psychiatrists can’t agree as to what its basic applied sciences are [21]. | |
Item 2: Psychiatry is a rapidly expanding frontier of medicine. | |
Psychiatry is attractive as a discipline because it is more intellectually comprehensive than other medical careers; it involves many fields of study including biology, psychology, sociology, history, philosophy and literature [23]. |
Item 3: Psychiatry is intellectually challenging. |
Psychiatry is not a genuine and valid branch of medicine [22]. |
Item 4: Psychiatry is not a genuine and valid branch of medicine. |
On average, psychiatrists make as much money as most other doctors [22]. |
Item 5: On average, psychiatrists make less money than other specialists. |
On average, psychiatrists make less money than other physicians [23]. | |
Perceptions of psychiatric treatments (n = 7)
| |
Psychiatric research has made good strides in advancing care of the major mental disorders [22]. |
Item 6: Psychiatric treatments are not evidence based. |
In recent years psychiatric treatment has become quite effective [21]. |
Item 7: Psychiatric treatments are as effective as treatments in other branches of medicine. |
Psychiatric hospitals have a specific contribution to make to the treatment of the mentally ill [21]. |
Item 8: Psychiatric patients should be treated in specialized facilities. |
Psychiatric treatment is helpful to most people who receive it [22]. |
Item 9: Most people who receive psychiatric treatment find it helpful. |
With the forms of therapy now at hand most psychiatric patients improve [21]. | |
There is very little that psychiatrics can do for their patients [21]. |
Item 10: There is very little psychiatrists can do for their patients. |
Psychiatric hospitals are little more than prisons [21]. |
Item 11: Psychiatric hospitals are little more than prisons. |
Item 12: Psychiatrists have too much power over their patients. | |
Perceptions of psychiatrists as role models (n = 5)
| |
Most psychiatrists are clear, logical thinkers [22]. |
Item 13: Most psychiatrists are not clear, logical thinkers. |
Psychiatrists are fuzzy thinkers [23]. | |
Attending psychiatrists during my psychiatry rotation were good role models [22]. |
Item 14: Psychiatrists are not good role models for medical students. |
Psychiatrists understand and communicate with people better than the average physician [23]. |
Item 15: Psychiatrists are difficult to talk to. |
Psychiatry is too analytical, theoretical, and psychodynamic, and not attentive enough to patients’ physiology [22]. |
Item 16: Psychiatrists are not attentive enough to physiology. |
Psychiatry is a discipline filled with international medical graduates whose skills are of low quality [22]. |
Item 17: Psychiatry is filled with people whose medical skills are of low quality. |
Perceptions of psychiatry as a career (n = 7)
| |
Friends and fellow students discouraged me from entering psychiatry [22] |
Item 18: I would encourage a bright student to enter psychiatry. |
If a student is interested in psychiatry as a career, other students or faculty will try to dissuade him or her [23]. | |
Psychiatry has a low prestige among the general public [22]. |
Item 19: Psychiatry has low prestige among other medical disciplines. |
Psychiatry has high status among other medical disciplines [22]. | |
Psychiatry is a respected branch of medicine [21]. | |
At times it is hard to think of psychiatrists as equal to other doctors [21]. | |
Within medicine, psychiatry has high status [23]. | |
Item 20: Many students at this medical school are interested in pursuing psychiatry as a career. | |
Many people who could not obtain a residency position in other specialties eventually enter psychiatry [22]. |
Item 21: Students who could not obtain a residence position in other specialties eventually end up in psychiatry. |
On the whole, people taking up psychiatric training are running away from participation in real medicine [21]. | |
Psychiatrists tend to be at least as stable as the average doctor [21]. |
Item 22: Students are generally attracted to psychiatry because of their own personal problems. |
Most nonpsychiatric faculty and house staff at my medical school are critical of psychiatry [23]. |
Item 23: My colleagues generally speak well of psychiatry. |
Item 24: Entering psychiatry is a waste of medical education. | |
Perceptions of psychiatric patients (n = 7)
| |
Psychiatrists get less satisfaction from their work than other specialists [21]. |
Item 25: Working with psychiatric patients is rewarding. |
I feel uncomfortable with mentally ill patients [22]. |
Item 26: Psychiatric patients are emotionally draining. |
Item 27: Psychiatric patients tend to be violent and unpredictable. | |
Item 28: Psychiatric patients are highly appreciative of the care they receive. | |
Item 29: Psychiatric patients should be treated in specialized facilities away from general hospitals. | |
Psychiatric patients are often more interesting to work with than other patients [21]. |
Item30: Psychiatric patients are often more interesting to work with than other patients. |
Psychiatric illness deserves at least as much attention as physical illness [21]. |
Item 31: Psychiatric illnesses deserve at least as much attention as physical illnesses. |
Perceptions of Psychiatric Training (n = 6)
| |
Teaching of psychiatry at my medical school is interesting and of good quality [22]. |
Item 32: Psychiatric teaching at this medical school is of the highest quality. |
The majority of students report that their psychiatric undergraduate training has been valuable [21]. |
Item 33: Students at this medical school think that their psychiatric training has been valuable. |
Item 34: Less time should be spent in the medical curriculum teaching psychiatry to medical students. | |
Item 35: Psychiatric rotations are well structured and informative. | |
Psychiatry is so amorphous that it cannot really be taught effectively [21]. |
Item 36: Psychiatry is so vague and imprecise it cannot really be taught effectively. |
These days psychiatry is the most important part of the curriculum in medical schools [21]. |
Item 37: Psychiatric rotations should not be mandatory. |
Data management and analysis
Results
Table characteristic | Unweighted % (n) |
---|---|
Gender
| |
Male | 60.2% (482) |
Female | 39.8% (319) |
Missing | 258 |
Career stage
| |
Early | 35.8% (329) |
Middle | 33.4% (307) |
Late | 30.8% (283) |
Missing | 140 |
Site
| |
Belarus | 8.9% (95) |
China | 3.9% (41) |
Croatia | 15.0% (159) |
India | 2.5% (26) |
Indonesia | 3.5% (37) |
Iran | 16.0% (169) |
Japan | 2.8% (30) |
Portugal | 1.4% (15) |
Romania | 7.0% (74) |
Russia | 16.6% (176) |
Scotland | 3.2% (34) |
Singapore | 1.9% (20) |
Thailand | 12.1% (128) |
Turkey | 2.4% (25) |
Ukraine | 2.8% (30) |
Medical field
| |
Anesthesiology | 2.4% (17) |
Chinese medicine | 0.4% (3) |
Community medicine | 1.9% (14) |
Dermatology | 2.5% (18) |
Emergency medicine | 1.4% (10) |
Family medicine | 10.0% (69) |
Lab | 6.4% (46) |
Neurology | 4.3% (31) |
Oncology | 1.5% (11) |
Pathology | 4.3% (31) |
Pediatric | 8.8% (63) |
Perinatal | 6.1% (44) |
Radiology | 4.3% (31) |
Rehabilitation | 1.3% (9) |
Unspecified Specialty | 28.2% (203) |
Surgery | 16.3% (117) |
Other | 0.4% (3) |
Missing | (339) |
Factor | EFA 1
| CFA 2
| CFA2 3
|
---|---|---|---|
(N = 343) | (N = 415) | (N = 419) | |
Factor 1: Image of Psychiatry
| |||
1. Psychiatry is unscientific. (R) | .41 | .72 | .52 |
2. Psychiatry is not a genuine and valid branch of medicine. (R) | .51 | .56 | .60 |
3. Psychiatric treatments are not evidence-based. (R) | .47 | .75 | .64 |
4. There is very little psychiatrists can do for their patients. (R) | .57 | .63 | .53 |
5. Psychiatric hospitals are little more than prisons. | .48 | .45 | .52 |
6. Most psychiatrists are not clear, logical thinkers. | .60 | .45 | .58 |
7. Psychiatrists are not good role models for medical students. | .71 | .73 | .70 |
8. Psychiatrists are difficult to talk to. | .69 | .48 | .50 |
9. Psychiatrists are not attentive enough to physiology. | .71 |
.28
| -- |
10. Psychiatry is filled with people whose medical skills are of low quality. (R) | .71 | .60 | .57 |
11. Psychiatry has low prestige among other medical disciplines. (R) | .51 |
.37
| -- |
12. Students who could not obtain a residency position in other specialties eventually end up in psychiatry. (R) | .48 |
.09
| -- |
13. Students are generally attracted to psychiatry because of their own personal problems. (R) | .47 |
.34
| -- |
14. My colleagues generally speak well of psychiatry. | .41 |
.39
| -- |
15. Entering psychiatry is a waste of medical education. (R) | .67 | .76 | .58 |
16. Psychiatry is so vague and imprecise it cannot really be taught effectively. (R) | .56 | .63 | .58 |
Eigenvalue
| 7.3 | ||
Alpha
| .83 | .83 | .82 |
Factor 2: Efficacy of Psychiatry
| |||
1. Psychiatry is a rapidly expanding frontier of medicine. | .66 | .49 | .66 |
2. Psychiatric treatments are as effective as treatments in other branches of medicine. | .48 | .47 | .57 |
3. Most people who receive psychiatric treatment find it helpful. | .58 | .57 | .61 |
4. I would encourage a bright student to enter psychiatry. | .42 |
.36
| -- |
5. Working with psychiatric patients is rewarding. | .52 | .51 | .54 |
6. Psychiatric patients are highly appreciative of the care they receive. | .51 | .66 | .42 |
7. Psychiatric teaching at this medical school is of the highest quality. | .48 |
.19
| -- |
8. Students at this medical school think that their psychiatric training has been valuable. | .60 |
.34
| -- |
Eigenvalue
| 2.3 | ||
Alpha
| .68 | .61 |