Objective: This study aimed to describe the amount, format and content of p
sychiatry teaching programs in all 12 Australian and New Zealand medical sc
hools.
Method: A structured questionnaire which included definitions and coding in
structions was completed by class coordinators for the years of 1995 or 199
6. Missing and inconsistent data were checked by coordinators and results w
ere confirmed by heads of department.
Results: Most departments of psychiatry taught throughout the undergraduate
course. Only three made no contribution to pre-clinical teaching. The time
devoted to clinical tuition ranged from 279 to 454 h per university with a
mean of 353 h. Clinical attachments occupied most time (mean = 70%), follo
wed by small group teaching (mean = 19%) and lectures (mean = 11%). Medical
schools varied greatly in the attention given to history taking and mental
state examination, psychological therapies and the sub-specialties of chil
d and aged psychiatry. Clinical attachments were mostly to adult inpatient
units. Private psychiatric hospitals and clinics were used infrequently as
were consultation-liaison psychiatry services and primary care.
Conclusion: There is a need to broaden the clinical experience of students
to better equip them for future medical practice. There appears to be a ser
ious mis-match between the settings in which most students are taught and t
he settings in which most will work later as non-psychiatric practitioners.
It was disappointing that psychological therapies received so little atten
tion given the central place of counselling in modern medical practice.