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Zhang YJ, Yuan K, Chang SH, Yan W, Que JY, Deng JH, Gong YM, Luo JM, Yang SC, An CX, Kang YM, Xu HS, Wang YM, Zhang LF, Zhang WF, Song YL, Xu DW, Liu HZ, Wang WQ, Liu CX, Yang WQ, Zhou L, Zhao JB, Yu MY, Chen JY, Tang H, Peng J, Zhang XJ, Xu Y, Zhang N, Kuang L, Li ZJ, Wang YH, Shi J, Ran MS, Bao YP, Shi L, Lu L. Career choice and influential factors among medical students majoring in psychiatry in China. BMC MEDICAL EDUCATION 2021; 21:183. [PMID: 33766012 PMCID: PMC7992123 DOI: 10.1186/s12909-021-02622-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The undergraduate program of psychiatry has been widely established in recent years to improve the education and recruitment of psychiatrists in China. We aim to investigate the career choice of medical students majoring in psychiatry in China and the influential factors. METHOD This multicenter study was conducted in 26 medical schools in China from May to October of 2019. Participants included 4610 medical students majoring in psychiatry and 3857 medical students majoring in clinical medicine. Multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate the influential factors of students' choices of psychiatry at matriculation and as a career. RESULTS 44.08% of psychiatry majored students gave psychiatry as a first choice at matriculation, and 56.67% of them would choose psychiatry as a career, which was in sharp contrast to the proportion of clinical medicine majored students who would choose psychiatry as a career (0.69%). Personal interest (59.61%), suggestions from family members (27.96%), and experiencing mental problems (23.19%) were main reasons for choosing psychiatry major at matriculation. Personal interest (odds ratio [OR] = 2.12, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.87-2.40), experiencing a psychiatry clerkship (OR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.28-3.08), being female (OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.30-1.68), experiencing mental problems (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.28-1.56), and suggestions from family members (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.08-1.46) correlated positively with students' choice of psychiatry as career. Students who lacked psychiatry knowledge (OR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.29-0.85) or chose psychiatry because of lower admission scores (OR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.63-0.97) were less likely to choose psychiatry as a career. CONCLUSION More than half of psychiatry majored medical school students planned to choose psychiatry as their career, whereas very few students in the clinic medicine major would make this choice. Increasing students' interest in psychiatry, strengthening psychiatry clerkships, and popularizing psychiatric knowledge are modifiable factors to increase the psychiatry career intention. The extent to which medical students' attitudes toward psychiatry can be changed through medical school education and greater exposure to psychiatry will need further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying-Jian Zhang
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Bei Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Kai Yuan
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Bei Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Su-Hua Chang
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Bei Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Wei Yan
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Bei Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Jian-Yu Que
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Bei Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Jia-Hui Deng
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Bei Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Yi-Miao Gong
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Bei Road, Beijing, 100191, China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences and PKU-IDG, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
| | - Jia-Ming Luo
- School of Psychiatry, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China
| | - Shi-Chang Yang
- Department of Psychiatry, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China
| | - Cui-Xia An
- Department of Psychiatry, First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Mental Health Institute of Hebei Medical University, Brain Ageing and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Yi-Min Kang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China
| | - Hua-Shan Xu
- School of Mental Health, Bengbu Medical College, Anhui, China
| | - Yi-Ming Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, China
| | - Li-Fang Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Changzhi People's Affiliated Hospital of Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, Shanxi, China
| | - Wen-Fang Zhang
- Mental Health Department of Baotou Medical College, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou, China
| | - Yin-Li Song
- Department of Pathology, Daqing Campus of Harbin Medical University, Daqing, China
| | - Dong-Wu Xu
- School of Mental Health, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Huan-Zhong Liu
- Chaohu Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui, China
| | | | | | - Wen-Qiong Yang
- Department of Neurology, Dongfeng Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, China
| | - Liang Zhou
- Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (Guangzhou Huiai Hospital), Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiu-Bo Zhao
- Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Psychiatry, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Miao-Yu Yu
- Department of Mental Health, Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China
| | - Jun-Yu Chen
- Shenzhi Department, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China
| | - Hong Tang
- Department of Psychology, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
| | - Juan Peng
- Teaching and Research Section of Psychology, School of Management, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, Guizhou, China
| | - Xiu-Jun Zhang
- North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan, Hebei, China
| | - Yong Xu
- Shanxi Key Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence Assisted Diagnosis and Treatment for Mental Disorders, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China
- Department of Psychiatry, First Hospital/First Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Ning Zhang
- Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Li Kuang
- Mental Health Center, University-Town Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
- Department of Psychiatry, First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Zhan-Jiang Li
- Department of Clinical Psychology, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Center of Schizophrenia, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Yu-Hua Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Qiqihar Medical University, Qiqihar, China
| | - Jie Shi
- National Institute on Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Mao-Sheng Ran
- Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yan-Ping Bao
- National Institute on Drug Dependence, School of Public Health, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China.
| | - Le Shi
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Bei Road, Beijing, 100191, China.
| | - Lin Lu
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Bei Road, Beijing, 100191, China.
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