Changes in Attitudes and Confidence in the Integration of Psychiatry in Other Areas of Medicine.

OBJECTIVE: The authors describe how attitudes and confidence in the integration of psychiatry into other areas of medicine change over time during clinical clerkship in medical school.

METHODS: From January 2015 to December 2016, medical students from the University of Iowa were recruited for a prospective study of changes in the Attitudes and Confidence in the Integration of Psychiatry Scale (ACIP) scale. The survey instrument was completed before their psychiatry clerkship, after the clerkship, and at the end of the year following that and other clinical clerkships. Other information such as gender, time spent in clerkship, USMLE Step 1 score, and clerkship grades was also collected.

RESULTS: A total of 172 surveys were completed by 138 students. The ACIP score was significantly higher at the end of the participants' clinical clerkship (67.2 to 76.6; t=-7.72, p<0.0001). Of the two ACIP subscales, confidence increased significantly (25.6 to 33.3; t=-9.82, p<0.0001), but attitudes toward integration of psychiatry did not (41.7 to 43.4; t=-1.96, p=0.059). Similar findings were seen in the subset of 34 students for whom pre- and post-clerkship data could be matched.

CONCLUSIONS: At the end of their clinical clerkship, medical students feel more confident providing psychiatric care. The lack of significant increase in the ACIP scale's attitude subscale either demonstrates that attitude scores going into clerkship were already high and did not deteriorate, or highlights an area for clerkship curriculum development.