The authors reviewed studies of attitudes toward psychiatry held by 368
medical students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and
204 senior medical students from two schools in Washington, D.C. They found
that the attitudes of all these students were remarkably similar: they
viewed psychiatry as a worthwhile medical specialty but one of low prestige
and low precision and thought that most psychiatric patients could be
adequately managed by non-physicians. On the basis of their findings the
authors offer recommendations for teaching basic psychiatric skills and for
improving psychiatry's image and attractiveness.Abstract Teaser