Attitude of Medical Students towardsPsychiatry in theUniversity of Jordan

Objectives: To explore the attitude toward psychiatryof fifth year medical students at the University of Jordan following a four week clerkship in psychiatry.Method:A 160 fifth year medical students participated in this study, of which 100 (62.5%) were male students and 60 (37.5%) female students. Attitude toward psychiatry scale- 30 (ATP- 30) was used. The students completed this questionnaire in the first and the last day of the clerkship. Results: For both groups (males and females), there was a moderately positive attitude in the pre clerkship stage more in the female students, this became more positive after the end of the rotation in both groups , particularly in male students.Conclusion: The attitude of the medical students towards psychiatry are generally positive prior the psychiatric rotation ,this is comparable to attitude of students in other medical schools in our region. The four week psychiatricrotationincreased positivity in attitude which indicates that the activities that the students go through during this rotation have positive effect on their attitude toward psychiatry.