Clinicians' attitudes towards the undergraduate medical student syllabus in psychiatry

To examine if the current taught undergraduate psychiatry syllabus at an Irish University relates to what doctors in psychiatry consider to be clinically relevant and important.

Doctors of different clinical grades were invited to rate their views on 216 items on a 10-point Likert scale ranging from '0 = not relevant' to '10 = very relevant'. Participants were invited to comment on topics that should be excluded or included in a new syllabus. Thematic analysis was conducted on this free-text to identify particular themes.

The doctors surveyed rated that knowledge of diagnostic criteria was important for medical students. This knowledge attained high scores across all disorders with particularly high scores for a number of disorders including major depressive disorder (mean = 9.64 (SD = 0.86)), schizophrenia (mean = 9.55 (SD = 0.95)) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); mean = 9.26 (SD = 1.40)). Lower scores were noted for less frequently utilised management strategies (transcranial magnetic stimulation (mean = 4.97 (SD = 2.60)), an awareness of the difference in criteria for use disorder and dependence from psychoactive substances (mean = 5.56 (SD = 2.26)), and some theories pertaining to psychotherapy (i.e. Freud's drive theory (mean = 4.59 (SD = 2.42)).

This study highlights the importance of an undergraduate programme that is broad based, practical and relevant to student's future medical practice. An emphasis on diagnosis and management of major psychiatry disorders, and knowledge of the interface between mental health services, other medical specialities and support services was also deemed important.