Perspectives of GCSE students attending a psychiatry summer school in south London.

Aims And Method: This study evaluated a pilot psychiatry summer school for GCSE students in terms of participant experience, effects on attitudes to mental illness and perception of psychiatry as a career option. This was done using the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill scale, career choice questionnaires and a discussion group following the week-long programme attended by 26 students.

Results: Students were significantly more likely to choose psychiatry after the summer school (P = 0.