AbstractIntroduction: The attitude of medical students towards psychiatry has been studied extensively in this developed world. The inability to attract medical students to specialize in psychiatry has always been a serious
challenge to psychiatric recruitment in developing countries like India. Aims and Objectives: To study the attitude of undergraduate medical students toward psychiatry. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a sample size of 200 participants who are undergraduate medical students of Mamata Medical College, Khammam, Telangana. The samples were drawn using convenience sampling method. Attitude towards Psychiatry scale (ATP) was the tool used to collect data for this study. Results: The senior students have more favorable attitude towards psychiatry than the junior students (75% vs. 45%). Only 8% second year and 12% final year students affirmatively said they wanted to become a psychiatrist, while around
70% denied psychiatry as their career option. Conclusions: The final year students displayed a more positive attitude towards psychiatry when compared to second-year students owing to the increased exposure during their clinical rotations.
Keywords: Medical College; Undergraduate; Attitude towards Psychiatry.