Perspectives of GCSE students attending a psychiatry summer school in south London. (April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wyke, Clementine; de Bernier, Glori-Louise; Sin Fai Lam, Chun Chiang; Holt, Clare; Butler, Sophie; Rajamani, Anto Praveen Rajkumar; Wilson Jones, Charlotte
• Is Part Of: BJPsych bulletin. Volume 45:Number 2(2021)
• Page Start: 114
• Page End: 119
• Publication Date: 2021-04
• Subjects: Education and training, -- recruitment, -- summer school, -- stigma and discrimination, -- school students; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; 616.8905
• DOI: 10.1192/bjb.2020.76
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2056-4694

Abstract

Abstract : Aims and Method: This study evaluated a pilot psychiatry summer school for GCSE students in terms of participant experience, effects on attitudes to mental illness and perception of psychiatry as a career option. This was done using the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill scale, career choice questionnaires and a discussion group following the week-long programme attended by 26 students. Results: Students were significantly more likely to choose psychiatry after the summer school ( P = 0.01). There were statistically significant changes in scores for social restrictiveness ( P = 0.04) and community mental health ideology ( P = 0.02). Qualitative analysis generated four themes: variation in expectations, limited prior knowledge, perception of the summer school itself and uniformly positive attitudes to psychiatry after the summer school. Clinical implications: Targeting students at this early stage appears to be an underexplored positive intervention for improving both attitudes towards mental illness and recruitment to psychiatry.