Choosing a career in psychiatry: influential factors within a medical school program.

OBJECTIVE To examine the influence of initial interest, pre-clerkship experiences, clerkship experiences, and enrichment activities on choosing a career in psychiatry. METHOD Residents in psychiatry at the authors' medical school completed a survey that examined each of these factors in relation to career choice. RESULTS Thirty participants ranked initial interest as the most influential factor. Thirteen residents with low initial interest ranked clerkship experiences and negative experiences in other specialties as more influential than the 17 residents with high initial interest. Twelve residents who had attended the authors' medical school rated enrichment activities, particularly psychiatry electives, as more influential than the remaining 18 from other medical schools did. CONCLUSIONS Although limited by small sample size and potential recall biases, this study suggests that positive clerkship experiences and participation in psychiatry electives may be modifiable programmatic factors that could enhance recruitment to psychiatry.