Where do psychiatrists come from? The influence of United Kingdom medical schools on the choice of psychiatry as a career.

The medical schools of origin of 531 psychiatrists who had qualified in the U.K. in the period of 1961-1970 were ascertained. Psychiatrists were for the purpose of the study operationally defined as those who had taken the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Membership examinations since its inception. There were large discrepancies, as much as five-fold, between different medical schools, and no ready explanation is forthcoming. There were also discrepancies in the proportion of women graduates opting for psychiatry.