OBJECTIVE: The authors determined who provides formal psychiatry teaching to newly-qualified doctors and whether the amount of such teaching correlates to a later career preference for psychiatry. METHODS: Data were collected on the cohort starting work in 2010 until applying to a specialty training program 16 months later. Total hours of psychiatry teaching was compared with the number choosing a residency in the same specialty. RESULTS: A total of 19 hospitals in northwest England provided teaching programs for their interns and first-year residents (U.K. foundation doctors); 15 provided information on doctors' later specialty choice. Only 2.3% of teaching was dedicated to psychiatry. Doctors led a higher proportion of medicine or surgery sessions (63%) than those on psychiatry (48%). Provision of psychiatry teaching was associated with entering psychiatry residency. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals providing the most formal psychiatry training have the highest proportions matriculating into a psychiatry residency.
OBJECTIVE: The authors determined who provides formal psychiatry teaching to newly-qualified doctors and whether the amount of such teaching correlates to a later career preference for psychiatry. METHODS: Data were collected on the cohort starting work in 2010 until applying to a specialty training program 16 months later. Total hours of psychiatry teaching was compared with the number choosing a residency in the same specialty. RESULTS: A total of 19 hospitals in northwest England provided teaching programs for their interns and first-year residents (U.K. foundation doctors); 15 provided information on doctors' later specialty choice. Only 2.3% of teaching was dedicated to psychiatry. Doctors led a higher proportion of medicine or surgery sessions (63%) than those on psychiatry (48%). Provision of psychiatry teaching was associated with entering psychiatry residency. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals providing the most formal psychiatry training have the highest proportions matriculating into a psychiatry residency.