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Enduring Attitude Change in Medical Students

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Abstract

As psychiatry assumes a more prominent position in the medical school core curriculum, it should attempt to fulfill educational goals applicable to all physicians including the establishment of positive attitudes toward all patients including psychiatric patients. With the establishment of a required two month psychiatry clerkship, this became an educational goal. Attitudes toward mental illness were measured in 43, third year medical students on 3 different occasions: (a) before the clerkship, (b) immediately upon completion, and (c) in 32 of the original 43 after graduation from medical school. The results indicate that attitude change is a reasonable goal and that once achieved, changes are sustained.

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Miller, S.I., Lenkoski, L.D. & Weinstein, D. Enduring Attitude Change in Medical Students. Acad Psychiatry 3, 171–179 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399735

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399735

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