Conference paper
A KING'S COLLEGE LONDON GLOBAL HEALTH SOCIETY EVENT DISCUSSING GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH TO INCREASE INTEREST IN PSYCHIATRY AS A CAREER: A PILOT STUDY
Ahmed Hankir
; Centre for Mental Health Research in association with University of Cambridge (CMHR-CU), Cambridge, UK ;South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK ;Department of Psychiatry, Carrick Institute for Graduate Studies, Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
Deyl Djama
; Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, London, UK
Ho Yi Lo
; Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK
Frederick R. Carrick
; Centre for Mental Health Research in association with University of Cambridge (CMHR-CU), Cambridge, UK, ;Department of Neurology, Carrick Institute for Graduate Studies, Cape Canaveral, FL, USA ;Neurology, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, FL, USA ;Medical Education, MGH Institute for Health Professions, Boston, MA, USA
Rashid Zaman
; Centre for Mental Health Research in association with University of Cambridge (CMHR-CU), Cambridge, UK, ;Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, UK ;Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Abstract
Introduction: Despite the launching of multiple initiatives to increase recruitment into psychiatry, the profession continues to
remain undersubscribed. Studies have shown that teaching on global mental health can improve attitudes toward psychiatry in
medical students. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have been published hitherto that evaluate if a brief teaching session (i.e.
60 minutes in duration) on global mental health improves perceptions of psychiatry and increases interest in this specialty as a career.
Subjects and methods: We conducted a single-arm, pre- post- comparison study on participants who attended a King’s College
London Global Health Society event on Global Mental Health. Participants completed a survey before and after exposure to the
event. Our aims were to detect and measure if there were any changes in perceptions of psychiatry and if a brief teaching session on
global mental health would increase interest in pursuing psychiatry as a career.
Results: 71 out of 90 participants responded (77.8% response rate). Following exposure to the event, there were statistically
significant improvements in the scores for, “Psychiatry is interesting” (pre-event score 4.41, post-event score 4.66 p value <0.001),
“I would talk positively about psychiatry to other people” (pre-event score 4.02, post-event score 4.48 p value <0.00001), and, “I
would consider psychiatry as a career” (pre-event score 3.24, post-event score 3.72 p value <0.001).
Conclusion: The results of our pilot study suggest that a brief lecture on global mental health may improve perceptions of
psychiatry and increase interest in this specialty as a career. We recommend that global mental health be introduced into the
medical school curriculum since this may help to increase recruitment into psychiatry.
Keywords
psychiatry; recruitment; global mental health
Hrčak ID:
263318
URI
Publication date:
4.9.2019.
Visits: 461 *