Attitudes of medical students toward psychiatry in a Chilean medical school.

Objective: The authors assess the attitudes of seventh-year medical students with regard to psychiatry and patients with psychiatric illness during the psychiatry clerkship.

Methods: A 32-item questionnaire regarding attitudes toward psychiatry and patients with psychiatric illness was administered at the beginning of the psychiatry clerkship.

Results: One hundred and ten seventh-year students participated in the study, providing responses anonymously. Average negative attitude item score was 2.45 ± 0.3 (range 1.7-3.3). Eighty-three students (75 %) responded to all the questions with an average negative attitude item score of 2.43 ± 0.3 (range 1.7-3.3) and a total negative attitude item score of 77.9 ± 10.3 (range 55-104).

Conclusions: Undergraduate students of a Chilean medical school showed fairly positive attitudes toward psychiatry and toward patients with psychiatric illness.