Medical students and public misunderstand psychiatrist role

The role of psychiatrists is misunderstood not only by the public but also by medical students, show the results of a small survey presented to the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ International Congress in Edinburgh last week.

Researchers from St George’s University of London surveyed 103 patients at a semi-rural general practice in England and 94 preclinical medical students about their understanding of psychiatrists’ work.

The patients often underestimated the qualifications held by psychiatrists and the length of their training. Over half (54%) didn’t realise that psychiatrists were medically qualified, and many weren’t clear about the differences between psychiatrists and psychologists. More than three quarters (77%) believed that a psychology degree was a prerequisite for psychiatry.

Medical students didn’t know much about the role beyond general adult psychiatry. For example, few students (6.3%) thought that a psychiatrist could treat dementia.

And a quarter (26%) of the medical students and nearly half (47%) of the patients said that they would feel uncomfortable sitting next to a psychiatrist at a party. Almost half the medical students (46%) and 60% of the patients said that psychiatrists “know what people are thinking.”

One of the researchers, the psychiatrist Alice Lomax, said that misconceptions about psychiatrists’ training and their role may deter people from seeking the help they needed and reinforce negative attitudes towards people with mental illness and their carers.

“Psychiatry is in the middle of a recruitment crisis, and we need more people to choose [it] as a profession. Our findings could help aid the development of anti-stigma and educational campaigns—aimed at both medical students and the general public,” she suggested.