Factors associated with medical students’ choice of psychiatry as future specialty: a cross-sectional study

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic and history of mental illness among medical students, October 2015

Variables		Frequency	Percentage
Sex	Male	139	84.2
	Female	26	15.8
Age	≤23 years	121	73.3
	≥24 years	44	26.7
Personal history of mental illness	Yes	8	4.8
	No	157	95.2
Family history of mental illness	Yes	27	16.4
	No	138	83.6
History of mental illness in close friends	Yes	45	27.7
	No	120	72.3
Residence	Urban	76	46.3
	Rural	88	53.7
Attitude toward psychiatry (based on ATP-30)	Positive	99	60.0
	Negative	66	40.0

Figure 1 Medical students’ choice of psychiatry specialty as future career.

Table 2 Factors affecting medical students’ choice of psychiatry as future career specialty, October, 2015

Variables (N=165)		Frequency	Percentage	X^2 test P-value
Psychiatric patient responds well to treatment	Yes	59	35.8	0.52
	No	106	64.2
Encouragement from consultant psychiatrists, teachers and profession of other discipline	Yes	58	35.2	0.004*
	No	107	64.8
Having direct involvement in psychiatric patient care	Yes	91	55.2	0.0001**
	No	74	44.8
Curiosity about the topic of “madness”	Yes	59	35.8	0.006*
	No	106	64.2
The degree to which patients are helped is impressive	Yes	81	49.1	0.005*
	No	84	50.9
Exposure to materials related to psychiatry	Yes	41	24.8	0.043*
	No	124	75.2
Opportunity and condition for further education	Yes	57	34.5	0.085
	No	108	65.5
Feeling uncomfortable with psychiatric patients	Yes	56	33.9	0.0001**
	No	109	66.1
Pressure from family, peers regarding future choice of specialty	Positive	42	25.5	0.040*
	Negative	123	74.5
Satisfaction related to practical and theoretical psychiatry education	Satisfied	51	30.9	0.0001**
	Not satisfied	114	69.1
Observed recovery of psychiatric patients in relation to patients with other medical conditions	Yes	74	44.8	0.771
	No	91	55.2
Previously, having close relationship with patients having mental illness/es	Yes	38	23.0	0.321
	No	127	77.0
Negative comment from teachers and professionals of other discipline on psychiatry or mental illness	Yes	31	18.8	0.763
	No	134	81.2
The manner in which psychiatry is taught and presented	Yes	73	44.2	0.0001**
	No	92	55.8
Newness/novelty of psychiatry	Yes	55	33.3	0.0001**
	No	110	66.7
Hazards in the field	Yes	61	37.0	0.009*
	No	104	63.0
Fear of stigma for working in psychiatry	Yes	55	33.3	0.785
	No	110	66.7
Financial advantage	Rewarding	25	15.8	0.009*
	Unrewarding	140	84.8

Note: P-value based on chi-squared test (*P<0.05, **P<0.001).

Table 3 Multivariate analysis of factors affecting medical students’ choice of psychiatry as future specialty career, October, 2015

Variables		Psychiatry for future specialty		COR (95%CI)	AOR (95%CI)	P-value
		Yes N (%)	No N (%)
Sex	Male	27 (19.4)	112 (80.6)	1.53 (0.58–4.00)	0.98 (0.33–2.95)	0.973
	Female	7 (26.9)	19 (73.1)	1
Age	≤23 years	21 (17.4)	100 (82.6)	1.99 (0.90–4.45)	1.13 (0.46–2.78)	0.789
	≥24 years	13 (29.5)	31 (70.5)	1
Personal history of mental illness	Yes	4 (50)	4 (50)	4.23 (1.00–17.90)*	2.63 (0.56–12.30)	0.218
	No	30 (19.1)	127 (80.9)	1
Family history of mental illness	Yes	12 (44.4)	15 (55.6)	4.23 (1.74–10.22)*	2.76 (1.05–7.25)	0.039*
	No	22 (15.9)	116 (84.1)	1
History of mental illness in close friends	Yes	16 (35.6)	29 (64.4)	3.13 (1.42–6.88)*	1.86 (0.76–4.54)	0.170
	No	18 (15.0)	102 (85.0)	1
Residence	Urban	14 (18.4)	62 (81.6)	1
	Rural	20 (22.7)	68 (77.3)	1.30 (0.61–2.80)	1.16 (0.49–2.74)	0.731
Attitude toward psychiatry (based on ATP-30)	Positive	29 (29.3)	70 (70.7)	5.05 (1.84–13.86)*	2.61 (0.81–8.37)	0.107
	Negative	5 (7.6)	61 (92.4)	1

Note: Chi squared=4.6, df=7, Hosmer–Lemeshow test =0.7 (*P<0.05).