The British Journal of Psychiatry (2002) 180: 307-312
© 2002 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Recruitment into psychiatry
IAN F. BROCKINGTON, FRCPsych
University of Birmingham
DAVID B. MUMFORD, MRCPsych
University of Bristol.
Correspondence: David Mumford, Director of Medical Education and Reader in Cross-Cultural
Psychiatry, 41 St Michael's Hill, Bristol BS2 8DZ, UK
Declaration of interest None.
See editorial, pp.
296297, this issue. 

ABSTRACT
Background Despite improvements in psychiatric teaching, British
medical schools have never produced enough graduands aiming
for
psychiatry.
Aims To inform the strategy for improving recruitment.
Method A literature review.
Results The number of psychiatrists required depends on the role of
psychiatry, which is constantly changing. The present requirement is about
250-300 per year, including replacements and new posts. The number of
psychiatric trainees has always been higher than expected from the career
plans of newly qualified doctors, but the number of British graduates passing
the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Membership examination has still fallen
short, requiring a supplement of foreign medical graduates. The recent 50%
expansion in medical students may make this country self-sufficient.
Conclusions To improve recruitment, the College should focus on
influences before and after undergraduate training the kind of student
entering medical school and the factors favouring sustained psychiatric
practice after graduation.

INTRODUCTION
Concern about poor recruitment into psychiatry started in the
1970s and has
followed different but parallel paths in the
USA and Britain. The American
position has been reviewed by
Sierles & Taylor
(
1995) and Weissman
(
1996). The number
of
psychiatrists rose from 3000 (23 per million population)
in 1949 to 37 000
(142 per million population) in 1992. Before
the Second World War the
proportion of doctors entering psychiatry
was already increasing from
2.7% in 1925-1929 to 4.7%
in 1935-1939 (mean annual percentages). During the
war it reached
5.1%. From 1945 to 1969 it averaged 6.9%. In 1970-1976 it fell
to 5.2% and in 1977-1979 it fell to 4.1%. Since then it has
varied between
3.1% (1979-1985) and 4.3% (1986-1990). Only
507 new residents were appointed
in 1994. In Britain, the number
of psychiatrists reached 1475 consultants in
1980 plus 2446
non-consultant staff
(
Walton, 1986). This is 26 per
million
the pre-war American figure. Concern about recruitment
came to
a head in the 1970s, related to the rapid expansion
in consultant posts.
Editorials had titles like Not
so popular psychiatry
(
BMJ, 1973) and
Who puts
students off psychiatry?
(
Lancet, 1979). A
national
conference reviewed Education and Training in
Psychiatry,
including recruitment
(
Walton, 1986). Recently,
Jenkins &
Scott (
1998)
reported a conference of the National Health Service
(NHS) Executive, the
Royal College of Psychiatrists, the National
Association of Health Authorities
and Trusts and the Trust
Federation Working Group on medical staffing in
mental health.
The present review covers 244 references, almost all from
Britain
or America (full reference list is available from the authors
upon
request). There are a few Canadian articles, and, since
1985, a sprinkling of
studies from other countries
Chile, France, Hong Kong, Malaysia,
Norway, Nicaragua, Saudi
Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sweden and Venezuela. It will deal
with:
- The number of psychiatrists required at present.
- The supply of psychiatrists at the training stage.
- Future requirements.
- Factors affecting recruitment.
- Possible remedies.

PRESENT REQUIREMENT FOR CONSULTANT PSYCHIATRISTS
There are at present about 3000 consultant psychiatrists from
all
specialities. This figure is based on 2655 psychiatrists
in England and Wales
recently contacted by the Royal College
of Psychiatrists about proposed
reforms in the Mental Health
Act (Hansard, written replies to questions, 4
July 2001). We
have added rather more than 10% for Scotland and Northern
Ireland.
The need is to replace those ceasing to practise and fill new posts. If
mental health officers were appointed at age 33 years and
retired at 59 years we would need 115 new consultants each year. If the
consultant body expanded by 5% per annum, then an additional 150 posts per
year would be needed. The total requirement, therefore, lies between 250 and
300 new consultants per year, to which replacements and new posts make an
approximately equal contribution.

SUPPLY OF CONSULTANT PSYCHIATRISTS PRACTISING IN BRITAIN
The number of British medical graduands expressing an interest
in
psychiatry has always been below this requirement. Tables
1 and
2 summarise data on students
planning to enter psychiatry
at graduation.
The data show a low but stable level of interest (in the range 2.9-4.2%,
mean 3.6%), with a slight preponderance of women (mean: males, 3.5%, females,
4.3%). At the present level of medical student numbers (3614), the number
aiming for psychiatry is in the range 105-152 per year, which is well below
the required number. With an expansion to 5652 per year it could, at the most
optimistic prediction of graduand choice (4.2%), reach 237 per year, which is
close to the required number.
The number entering psychiatric training, however, has been greater than
that expected from the career aims of graduands.
Table 3 summarises data
supplied by the President (R. E. Kendell) for those passing the Membership
examination.
The number of successful British candidates has varied from 183 to 238
during the past 10 years, with a mean of 203. The number of medical graduates
from continental Europe training in Britain is germane. Data supplied by Damon
Ralston showed that the first candidate passed in 1980, and the next in 1989;
thereafter, there have been 7-19 per year (mean 13), which is a rather small
contribution. Those from the Republic of Ireland will raise the total, but the
combination of successful British, Irish and European candidates is below the
number required to fill consultant posts. It remains to be seen whether the
increase of medical students now in the pipeline will make up
the difference.
Overseas recruitment in Britain and America masks poor local recruitment.
The number of international trainees has been rising steadily in
the USA (Balon & Munoz, 1966;
Weissman, 1996). This may not
be true in Britain because of emigration rules. The number of successful
overseas candidates has been high in recent years at least 70 per year
since 1989. If candidates from other countries were allowed to stay, and
wished to do so, they should supply any remaining deficit.

FUTURE REQUIREMENTS
The number of psychiatrists required depends on the role of
psychiatry,
which changes from generation to generation. It
also varies from country to
country, so that international
comparisons may not be relevant to Britain.
The level of morbidity in the population is fundamental. New research may
eliminate diseases, but it is more likely that new social conditions will
increase them, as we have seen with the growth of substance misuse.
The threshold for involvement of specialists has great influence. Much
diagnostic assessment and treatment is carried out in primary care. Even in
Britain, some has been taken over by private practice. There is some pressure
to restrict public sector funding to the most seriously ill psychoses
or those requiring in-patient admission (the old asylum role).
In general psychiatry, a crucial question is whether the consultant's role
is confined to diagnosis and prescription (or care planning) or whether it
also involves psychological treatment. Comprehensive assessment can be done
only by doctors, but psychotherapy and continuing support can be provided by
nursing staff, psychologists, social workers and other professionals.
In almost all specialist areas, there are problems of threshold, for
example:
- What proportion of parasuicides should be assessed by liaison
psychiatrists?
- What proportion of patients with dementia require assessment by old age
psychiatrists, rather than general practitioners and social workers?
- What proportion of offenders should be examined by forensic psychiatrists
rather than prison medical officers?
- What proportion of disturbed children require a child psychiatrist's
opinion?
- What proportion of substance misusers should be treated by psychiatrists
rather than lay organisations?
The answers to these questions greatly influence workforce
calculations.
As in other areas of medicine, the number required also depends on:
- The working week of consultants.
- The proportion of work done by consultants rather than staff grade doctors
or trainees.
- The fall-out rate and duration of service.
- The loss of women practitioners because of family responsibilities.
- Net migration.
- Other sources of attrition, including premature death.

BACKGROUND FACTORS AFFECTING THE RECRUITMENT OF PSYCHIATRISTS
Some consider that the recruitment problem is exaggerated by
stressful
working conditions, and some see psychiatric patients
as aversive
anxiety-provoking, unpleasant, untrustworthy
and disabled
(
Tucker & Reinhardt,
1968). Scher
et al
(
1983) questioned 209 medical
students from eight American
medical schools: some students found psychiatry
too show moving,
with too few tangible results the disorders were
manageable
but not reversible.
Many have commented on the low status of the speciality and the
unsympathetic attitude and lack of respect shown by other professions and
faculty members, especially physicians and surgeons. For example, Merton
et al (1956) found
that medical students ranked psychiatry seventh out of seven specialities.
Bruhn & Parsons (1964)
charted the precipitous decline in the perception of psychiatry at six
different points in the medical career: medical students saw psychiatrists as
confused thinkers and emotionally unstable often as abnormal as
their patients. Furnham
(1986), who studied 449 London
students, found that psychiatry, compared with eight other specialities, was
given the most pejorative scores on 26/50 items it was considered the
most ineffective, unscientific and conceptually the weakest speciality. This
echoes the public stigma of mental illness (e.g.
Dean, 1996): psychiatrists run
the gauntlet of the antipsychiatry bias of relatives, friends and the public.
Dietz (1977) detailed the
antipsychiatric influences of a generation of social research, which
socially and legally discredited the profession.
Adverse financial terms have been suggested as a deterrent. There is
concern about the financial effects of the College's decisions about higher
psychiatric training under the Calman reforms
(Double, 1998;
McCallum et al, 1998;
Shah, 1998). The relative
earnings of consultants, however, will probably have more influence on
recruitment.
On the other hand, many doctors enter psychiatry because of a personal
concern for the mentally ill. They may have family members with psychiatric
disorder. They may have personal experience of it. It is often supposed that
psychiatrists are more vulnerable, but the objective evidence shows little
difference (if any) compared with other specialities
(Mowbray & Davies, 1971;
Mowbray et al, 1990;
Zeldow & Daugherty,
1991).
Social background, personality, attitudes and aptitude are important. Eagle
& Marcos (1980) found that
psychiatry attracted students from a lower social class, from cities, more
often single and politically liberal. Walton and his colleagues
(1963,
1964,
1966,
1969) found that psychiatry's
constituency was a group of students who were more reflective and responsive
to abstract ideas, liked complexity and were tolerant of ambiguity. Others
have emphasised non-authoritarian attitudes, open-mindedness, greater interest
in theoretical issues and social welfare and a preference for aesthetic values
(e.g. Pasnau & Bayley,
1971).
Notwithstanding the stigma, psychiatry is an important and
interesting part of medicine, appealing to curiosity and
interest in emotions and actions
(BMJ, 1973). In the
study of Scher et al
(1983) mentioned above, some
students appreciated its holistic approach and the opportunity to know
patients in depth. They enjoyed the breadth of the field and its interactions
with other disciplines. Recent neuroscientific findings promised rapid
advances.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE MEDICAL SCHOOL
This influence starts with the selection of future medical students
(
Klein & Mumford, 1978;
Cameron & Persad, 1984).
A-level
requirements may prejudice medical school entry in favour of
a
background in biological science as opposed to social science
or the
humanities. For example, Nemetz & Weiner
(
1965)
found that those who
entered psychiatry residency programmes
had majored more often in humanities
or social sciences rather
than natural sciences; they seemed primarily
interested in
ideas literature, history or anthropology. Donnan
(
1976)
found that many had at
least one non-science A-level.
Parker (1958) noted an
antagonism of medical students to psychiatry and called for education
emphasising psychosocial functioning and relating symptoms to the wider
context of the patient's life. This was followed by Sir Denis Hill's article
(1960) on whole patient
medicine:
Most of medical education would seem almost expressly designed to
shield the student from awareness of the patient as an individual.
He advocated preclinical teaching of psychology and sociology. The same
points were made eloquently by Iago Galdston
(1968), who criticised
the dismemberment of man, who needs to be understood
holistically, ecologically and existentially. The biological
bias of medical education was demonstrated by a videotape study
(Silverman et al,
1983): two-thirds of Boston medical students failed to list a
single social or psychological item as being relevant to the investigation of
a man with chest pain and a woman with abdominal pain. These early papers set
the scene for a more effective presentation of psychiatry to the medical
student.
Historically, the speciality has reacted to the recruitment problem by
focusing on the undergraduate curriculum. Much of the literature deals with
this. This resulted in a range of ideas for improving the presentation of
psychiatry:
- The behavioural science course. Preclinical teaching in
psychology, social science or behavioural science was first suggested by
Weiner (1961) and is now
widespread.
- The psychiatry module or clerkship. Many studies have reported a
beneficial effect on attitudes to psychiatry. Unfortunately the improvement in
attitudes is not maintained. For example, Wilkinson et al
(1983) studied 94 London
students: the proportion with favourable attitudes rose from 23% to 61%, and
this was maintained a year later. The number who considered specialising in
psychiatry rose from 6% to 17% and was still 14% a year later. The same team
followed these students to the end of the pre-registration year and found that
those with positive attitudes had fallen to 46%.
- Other forms of teaching. A considerable number of other teaching
suggestions and experiments have been made, especially in the USA. Several
transatlantic teams have given students clinical responsibility. For
example, Miles et al
(1974) placed fourth-year
students in charge of two psychiatric wards! Liaison psychiatry
clerkships may have a special value. Scott
(1986) has suggested increased
psychiatric involvement in the intercalated year, and student
electives.
There are data comparing the success of different medical schools in
motivating students to enter psychiatric training. In the USA, medical schools
with the strongest academic departments had the best recruitment
(Nielsen, 1979;
Sierles, 1982). In Britain, we
have the Brook (1961-1970) and Parkhouse (1974-1980) data, which are
summarised in Table 4. In 1976,
Brook reported the medical school training of 531 psychiatrists who qualified
between 1961 and 1970, and arrived at percentages for each medical school;
these were extended and revised in a later paper
(Brook, 1983). The Parkhouse
surveys (Parkhouse & McLaughlin,
1976; Parkhouse & Palmer,
1977,
1979; Parkhouse et
al,
1981a,b;
1983;
Faragher et al, 1980;
Parkhouse, 1983) asked
graduates in their second pre-registration post about their career choices. On
examining Table 4 it is
obviously necessary to span several years before reaching any conclusions
Oxford, Leeds, Glasgow and Leicester can single out years when they
recruited 8-11% of medical students, but these were isolated triumphs. One
decade may contrast with another; for example, Middlesex, whose recruitment
was two standard deviations above the mean in 1961-1965, was below average in
1975-1980. In the Brook data, University College Hospital was the only medical
school with recruitment more than two standard deviations above the mean in
both quinquennia. In the Parkhouse series, the only medical school that stands
out is St George's, which achieved 15% in 1979 (almost three standard
deviations above the mean) and an average of 7.4% over the 7-year period. When
one compares these figures with St Thomas' or Westminster, the conclusion must
be that medical schools can (exceptionally) influence recruitment. Data of
this kind have not been available for nearly 20 years but are re-emerging. Dr
Goldacre and colleagues will be following up Dr Parkhouse's cohorts of 1974,
1977, 1980 and 1983 and are starting new cohorts for 1993 and 1996 (Lambert
et al,
1996a,b).
One should remember that peak interest in American psychiatry was reached
in the 1950s and 1960s, when psychiatry had only a minor role in the
curriculum (Weissman & Bashook,
1991). Low levels of recruitment have persisted in spite of a
great increase in psychiatry's share of the curriculum time, the introduction
of excellent teaching ideas and the establishment of chairs in almost all
medical schools.
Student opinion is unstable in the short and the long term. There are great
differences between career goals at medical school entry, intentions before
and after the psychiatry module, at qualification, after the pre-registration
year and when the final decision is made
(Held & Zimet, 1975;
Matteson & Smith, 1977; Egerton, 1983). Some have
found that an initial interest in psychiatry falls steeply during the
curriculum (Light, 1975;
Zimet & Held, 1975;
Pardes, 1982). But Paiva
et al (1982) found a
drift from other specialities into psychiatry more than any other
speciality. There is some evidence that preference for psychiatry is more
enduring than other specialities (Kritzer
& Zimet, 1967).
Student preferences are a poor predictor of eventual career choice. Last
& Stanley (1968) found
that two-thirds changed their minds after leaving the medical school. Mowbray
et al (1990) found
that 65% chose psychiatry after graduation. Three studies are
particularly informative:
- Hutt et al (1981)
conducted a postal survey of 6561 doctors: only 28% chose their speciality
before or during undergraduate training, 47% in the next 5 years, 14% 6-10
years after qualifying and 9% after that.
- Cameron & Persad (1984)
asked 78 residents when they decided to enter psychiatry: 14% decided before
entry into the medical school, 28% as medical students and 58% after
graduation.
- Parkhouse et al
(1981a,b)
and Parkhouse & Ellin
(1988) reported longterm
follow-up studies of their 1974 cohort: after 5 years, 41% had changed their
career choice; after 11 years, 69% had changed and 9% changed career at least
four times. The number destined for psychiatry in 1975 (3.5%) rose to 4.7% by
1981. By far the most important factor influencing a choice of psychiatry was
aptitude and ability; this was mentioned by 82%, a higher figure
than any factor in any other speciality.

THE PRE-REGISTRATION YEAR
The pros and cons of pre-registration psychiatric posts were
reviewed by a
working party in 1983, under the Chairmanship
of Sir Ivor Batchelor
(
Walton, 1986). The matter has
been
discussed by Scott (
1986)
and recently was the subject of a
working party of the University Psychiatry
Committee. There
is some evidence that this experience, like 6-month
psychiatry
posts in general practice rotations, is a source of recruits.
On
the other hand, if these posts just confirmed the interest
of those already
destined for psychiatry, their main effect
would be to reduce psychiatrists'
experience of medicine and
surgery (R. E. Kendell, personal communication,
2001). Sheffield
has the most extensive experience since posts were introduced
in 1980. Sheffield data on change in career preference between
graduation and
the end of the pre-registration year will be
relevant here.

IMPROVING RECRUITMENT
It is not an inevitable conclusion that psychiatry needs to
improve
recruitment. The increase in medical students may solve
the problem but much
depends on judgements made about psychiatry's
specific role. There are great
uncertainties about the workforce
required to deal with mental illness and
there is no point
in using personnel with at least 12 years of higher
education
and training to undertake work that can be done by professionals
with a fraction of the salary and much shorter training or even
by lay
enthusiasts. The influence, power and prestige of the
speciality may depend
more on the quality than the quantity
of consultants, and there needs to be
more debate about these
issues.
If there is a will to raise recruitment, the College should analyse the
pathway to a psychiatry career, including the nodal experiences and filters
that determine a career choice in psychiatry
(Table 5).
The present data leave many uncertainties, but this brief review suggests
that there may be more scope for improving recruitment by influencing the
intake of medical students than by focusing on undergraduate teaching.
Introducing more pre-registration house officer posts could be tried,
preferably with prospective monitoring of its effect. Later career influences
seem paramount why graduates chose psychiatry after the
pre-registration year, and the attrition of trainees and consultants.

Clinical Implications and Limitations
CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
- Recruiting medical students with a primordial interest in sociology and
psychology will enrich the consultant leadership with individuals who have a
broad understanding of their patients.
- Improvement in the number of doctors wishing to enter psychiatry will
create more competition, leading to more research effort in the training years
and a more talented consultant workforce.
- Recruiting consultant psychiatrists from British medical graduands will
ensure that they are deeply versed in their patients' cultural
background.
LIMITATIONS
- This is merely a review of the literature. Published work so far has
focused mainly on the undergraduate curriculum, with a dearth of data on other
factors influencing recruitment.
- There has been a lack of debate on the role of consultant
psychiatrists.
- The number of consultants required is crucial to the discussion, but can
be estimated only very approximately.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This article is based on the position paper prepared by the
University
Psychiatry Committee in 1999. All members of the
Committee contributed to the
discussion.

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Received for publication January 12, 2000.
Revision received October 15, 2001.
Accepted for publication October 16, 2001.
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- ELIZABETH WALSH
BJP 2002 180: 0.
[Full Text]
- Recruiting and retaining psychiatrists
- DAVID STORER
BJP 2002 180: 296-297.
[Full Text]
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