Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Third-Year Psychiatry Clerkships

The 1991–1992 Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry were surveyed to investigate the exposure of undergraduate medical students in the United States to child and adolescent psychiatry during the psychiatry clinical clerkship. The response rate was 100% (N = 122). Forty-four (36.1%) medical schools provided no exposure to child and adolescent psychiatry patients during the psychiatry clerkship. Sixty-one (50%) medical schools provided inpatient experience for their students in child and adolescent psychiatry, although only 24.2% of students in the clerkships were assigned to these units. Seventeen (13.9%) medical schools provided outpatient or consultation-liaison experience in child and adolescent psychiatry for students. These results demonstrate the lack of exposure to child and adolescent psychiatry for the majority of medical students during psychiatry clerkships. The medical school curriculum has a significant effect on specialty selection. The introduction of an undergraduate medical education curriculum that includes child and adolescent psychiatry may address the severe shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists to provide for patient care, academic, and research needs. Proposals are made to facilitate implementation of child and adolescent psychiatry into the undergraduate medical curriculum.