Impact of half-day clinical training in outpatient psychiatry on perception of mental illness by postgraduate interns

Aim: Lack of contact with patients with mental illness may contribute to mental health stigma. We conducted a half-day training program in the outpatient psychiatry clinic of a rural general hospital for postgraduate interns in Nagasaki University Hospital. Our study investigated the effectiveness of this program in reducing stigma toward mental illness. It also examined the association between an intern’s perception of mental illness and their consideration of psychiatry as a career.Methods: Participants were 12 interns at Nagasaki University Hospital who competed a pre- and post- training questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed perceptions of mental illness using a semantic differential scale and measured consideration of psychiatry as a career on a 7 point Likert scale. Paired t-tests were used to compare mean pre- and post-training scores on the semantic differential scale. Pearson’s correlation was used to examine associations between semantic differential scores and consideration of psychiatry as a career.Results: Post-training scores were higher than pre-training scores on the items “warm” (P = 0.003), “clean” (P = 0.009), “bright” (P = 0.001), and “calm” (P = 0.003) as associated with mental illness. Consideration of psychiatry as a career significantly correlated with post-training score on “warm” (r = 0.587, P = 0.045).Conclusion: Interns can develop positive perceptions of mental illness after a half-day training program in a psychiatry outpatient clinic. Perceptions of mental illness as “warm” after training correlated with consideration of psychiatry as a career

Subjective achievement from psychiatry rotation in the Japanese postgraduate residency system: a longitudinal questionnaire study

Background: Psychiatry rotation has been mandatory in the Japanese postgraduate residency system since 2020. Some psychiatry-related competency items are stipulated as mandatory for residents. The current study aimed to clarify whether psychiatry rotation affected residents’ subjective achievement of these competency items.Methods: This longitudinal study was conducted among postgraduate residents who completed a rotation in the psychiatry department at Nagasaki University Hospital across two academic years (2020–2021). The survey was administered at the start and at the end of the psychiatry rotation. Residents evaluated their subjective understanding and confidence regarding initiating treatment for these competency items using a six-point Likert scale. The average scores for each item were compared between pre-rotation and post-rotation.Results: In total, 99 residents (91.7%) responded to this survey. Residents had significantly higher scores at postrotation compared with pre-rotation in all psychiatry-related competency items in both subjective understanding and confidence in initiating treatment. Additionally, strong effect sizes were found for many items.Conclusion: Residents improved learning about psychiatry-related competency items through psychiatry rotation. This finding suggests that it is reasonable for psychiatry rotation to be mandatory in the current Japanese postgraduate residency system. The importance of psychiatry is likely to increase in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in the future. It is necessary to continuously update educational strategies to meet changing social needs over time. As this study was conducted at a single institution, a multi-center study is needed to expand the current findings