What do general psychiatrists do? A question posed to medical students and the general population.

Background: Misconceptions about the role of a psychiatrist are anecdotally widespread but have been under researched.

Aims: This study aimed to establish views on training and working in psychiatry amongst preclinical medical students at a South London Medical School and amongst a general public sample.

Methods: A semi-structured online questionnaire was used to survey medical students, with a similar paper questionnaire being used to survey members of the public in a general practice waiting room using a convenience sampling method.