Evaluation of US Medical Student Bias Toward Mental Health Before and After First-Year Pre-clinical Psychiatry Education.
ACADEMIC PSYCHIATRY : THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF DIRECTORS OF PSYCHIATRIC RESIDENCY TRAINING AND THE ASSOCIATION FOR ACADEMIC PSYCHIATRY 2023;
47:653-658. [PMID:
37493961 DOI:
10.1007/s40596-023-01829-y]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Much of mental health care is provided by non-psychiatric providers, and unfortunately, bias toward patients with mental health conditions leads to worsened outcomes. The authors endeavored to determine if pre-clinical medical student psychiatry education had an impact on these perceptions.
METHODS
All 366 first-year medical students at Indiana University were invited to participate in a survey that consisted of the Mental Illness: Clinician's Attitudes version 2 (MICA-2) and six supplemental questions, pre- and post-course.
RESULTS
One hundred seventeen students completed both surveys. The pre- and post-course means were 36.6 and 33.6, a change of - 2.9 (paired t-test p-value < 0.001), indicating a reduction in bias.
CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that pre-clinical education can lead to a measurable decrease in bias in medical students early in training. Unfortunately, individual question results and free responses continue to highlight significant bias in US medical students against mental illness and the field of psychiatry. Health care educators should be aware of these biases and their potential impact on patient outcomes so that these harmful perceptions can be targeted.
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