Part III: Future Career Intentions of Psychiatric Residents

Abstract

The future career intentions of more than half (N=241) the total of psychiatric residents in Canada were surveyed. General adult psychiatry continued to attract the majority of interest. A definite increase in interest in the subspecialties of child and adolescent psychiatry, geriatrics, forensics and mental retardation seemed to have occurred since 1975. There would also appear to have been an increase in interest in working in psychiatric hospitals. In contrast, a decrease in interest in the area of addictions has occurred. There were no differences found between the career intentions of male and female residents suggesting that the increase in the number of female physicians may not markedly change the pattern of practice of psychiatry in the future. Foreign medical graduates were found to be more interested in working for the government than Canadian medical graduates, thus remaining a valuable manpower resource for provincial psychiatric hospitals. A comparison with previous surveys revealed the above changes in interest as well as the worsening of the problem of maldistribution. Residents trained in smaller programs were more likely to be interested in practising in smaller towns than those trained in larger centres. These results suggest the need for postgraduate programs to emphasize training experiences in areas of manpower shortages and create opportunities for training in smaller towns and rural areas. Finally, a method for creating an ongoing data gathering system is suggested.