Stigmatisation of Mental Illness and Its Impact on Recruitment of Medical Students to a Career in Psychiatry

Abstract

The stigmatisation of mental illness in Australian and other Western societies is now well documented. This article presents a description of the ‘stigmatisation’ problem associated with mental illness and discusses the impact that this problem has had on the demand for Psychiatry as a career. The approach taken at UWA to address the ‘recruitment crisis’ through the use of innovative teaching strategies is then described. Preliminary evidence on the efficacy of the approach is also presented. These strategies may provide a model for other universities making efforts to bolster the numbers of medical students who pursue careers in Psychiatry.