The interest of trainees in working with seriously mentally ill persons

Working with persons who have severe and persistent mental illness has generally not been a preferred career track for prospective mental health professionals. Most of the literature has focused on the recruitment of psychiatrists. This paper reports the results of 78 students in Rhode Island representing three allied mental health professions-social work, psychology, and nursing. Significant differences were found in training environments and learning activities, in interests in working with various diagnostic groups, and in rating the relative importance of both client problems as well as interventions strategies. Implications for future academic-mental health linkages are suggested.