Julia Bland interviews a group of anonymous (and frank) core trainees in psychiatry

Given the crisis in recruitment into psychiatry, I wanted to hear how a group of CT1 and CT2 psychiatrists perceived their chosen specialty. Could they recommend it? Perhaps typically of a group of doctors, the first flavour was cynicism. The jokey reply to the question 'Why choose psychiatry?' is 'To avoid med regging', but as the conversation unfolded it became safe to admit 'I really love my job'. The group was disparate in terms of age, experience, nationality, culture and, of course, the particular jobs they were doing. During the first 2 years of psychiatric training they see how four different teams operate, community or ward based, and then the on-call experience offers a rich mix of interest, alarm and frustration. A bright and curious bunch, they are rapidly accruing a database of experiences, exchanging impressions with each other, checking and observing themselves and their peers. In this early stage there is a looking back at the culture of medical wards and comparing medicine and psychiatry. 'The dynamics between the doctors and the nurses are very different on psychiatric wards compared [with] medical ones. .. the nurses are more in charge. .. there is less hierarchy, it's more friendly, and the nurses know how to do some things much better than us, for example, how to restrain a patient safely. .. '. What did they hope for in choosing psychiatry? 'I wanted a reasonable amount of time with patients, less of a checklist, the opportunity to develop a relationship with patients. .. '. 'It's been disappointing. I do mainly the physical [assessment], medical stuff and paperwork. .. '. 'I have no time to speak to patients. We've only got one SHO [senior house officer] and no reg[istrar], I only see them in ward rounds, we have to aim to discharge one patient every day'. Others did manage the hoped-for patient contact: 'My ward is great for exposure to patients. We do interviews in the ward rounds, and we are encouraged to prioritise time on the ward. It's rewarding when patients tell you something different, something that they haven't told anyone else. But then my ward is notorious for long admissions. .. '. Rapid turnover and broken continuity was a theme of criticism: 'It's frustrating when patients are suddenly moved, even after you've put time in. .. and if the patients go on home leave, or overnight leave for more than …