Table 1.

Genesis of scale items

Original item(s)	Revised items for analysis and item number (total items for each construct)
Perceptions of psychiatry as a discipline (n = 5)
Psychiatry is unscientific and imprecise [22,23].	Item 1: Psychiatry is unscientific.
Psychiatry has very little scientific information to go on [21].
Psychiatry is so unscientific that even psychiatrists can’t agree as to what its basic applied sciences are [21].
Psychiatry is a rapidly expanding frontier of medicine [22,23]	Item 2: Psychiatry is a rapidly expanding frontier of medicine.
Psychiatry is attractive as a discipline because it is more intellectually comprehensive than other medical careers; it involves many fields of study including biology, psychology, sociology, history, philosophy and literature [23].	Item 3: Psychiatry is intellectually challenging.
Psychiatry is not a genuine and valid branch of medicine [22].	Item 4: Psychiatry is not a genuine and valid branch of medicine.
On average, psychiatrists make as much money as most other doctors [22].	Item 5: On average, psychiatrists make less money than other specialists.
On average, psychiatrists make less money than other physicians [23].
Perceptions of psychiatric treatments (n = 7)
Psychiatric research has made good strides in advancing care of the major mental disorders [22].	Item 6: Psychiatric treatments are not evidence based.
In recent years psychiatric treatment has become quite effective [21].	Item 7: Psychiatric treatments are as effective as treatments in other branches of medicine.
Psychiatric hospitals have a specific contribution to make to the treatment of the mentally ill [21].	Item 8: Psychiatric patients should be treated in specialized facilities.
Psychiatric treatment is helpful to most people who receive it [22].	Item 9: Most people who receive psychiatric treatment find it helpful.
With the forms of therapy now at hand most psychiatric patients improve [21].
There is very little that psychiatrics can do for their patients [21].	Item 10: There is very little psychiatrists can do for their patients.
Psychiatric hospitals are little more than prisons [21].	Item 11: Psychiatric hospitals are little more than prisons.
Psychiatrists frequently abuse their legal power to hospitalize patients against their will [22,23].	Item 12: Psychiatrists have too much power over their patients.
Perceptions of psychiatrists as role models (n = 5)
Most psychiatrists are clear, logical thinkers [22].	Item 13: Most psychiatrists are not clear, logical thinkers.
Psychiatrists are fuzzy thinkers [23].
Attending psychiatrists during my psychiatry rotation were good role models [22].	Item 14: Psychiatrists are not good role models for medical students.
Psychiatrists understand and communicate with people better than the average physician [23].	Item 15: Psychiatrists are difficult to talk to.
Psychiatry is too analytical, theoretical, and psychodynamic, and not attentive enough to patients’ physiology [22].	Item 16: Psychiatrists are not attentive enough to physiology.
Psychiatry is a discipline filled with international medical graduates whose skills are of low quality [22].	Item 17: Psychiatry is filled with people whose medical skills are of low quality.
Perceptions of psychiatry as a career (n = 7)
Friends and fellow students discouraged me from entering psychiatry [22]	Item 18: I would encourage a bright student to enter psychiatry.
If a student is interested in psychiatry as a career, other students or faculty will try to dissuade him or her [23].
Psychiatry has a low prestige among the general public [22].	Item 19: Psychiatry has low prestige among other medical disciplines.
Psychiatry has high status among other medical disciplines [22].
Psychiatry is a respected branch of medicine [21].
At times it is hard to think of psychiatrists as equal to other doctors [21].
Within medicine, psychiatry has high status [23].
	Item 20: Many students at this medical school are interested in pursuing psychiatry as a career.
Many people who could not obtain a residency position in other specialties eventually enter psychiatry [22].	Item 21: Students who could not obtain a residence position in other specialties eventually end up in psychiatry.
On the whole, people taking up psychiatric training are running away from participation in real medicine [21].
Psychiatrists tend to be at least as stable as the average doctor [21].	Item 22: Students are generally attracted to psychiatry because of their own personal problems.
Most nonpsychiatric faculty and house staff at my medical school are critical of psychiatry [23].	Item 23: My colleagues generally speak well of psychiatry.
Psychiatry is unappealing because it makes so little use of medical training [21,23].	Item 24: Entering psychiatry is a waste of medical education.
Perceptions of psychiatric patients (n = 7)
Psychiatrists get less satisfaction from their work than other specialists [21].	Item 25: Working with psychiatric patients is rewarding.
I feel uncomfortable with mentally ill patients [22].	Item 26: Psychiatric patients are emotionally draining.
	Item 27: Psychiatric patients tend to be violent and unpredictable.
	Item 28: Psychiatric patients are highly appreciative of the care they receive.
	Item 29: Psychiatric patients should be treated in specialized facilities away from general hospitals.
Psychiatric patients are often more interesting to work with than other patients [21].	Item30: Psychiatric patients are often more interesting to work with than other patients.
Psychiatric illness deserves at least as much attention as physical illness [21].	Item 31: Psychiatric illnesses deserve at least as much attention as physical illnesses.
Perceptions of Psychiatric Training (n = 6)
Teaching of psychiatry at my medical school is interesting and of good quality [22].	Item 32: Psychiatric teaching at this medical school is of the highest quality.
The majority of students report that their psychiatric undergraduate training has been valuable [21].	Item 33: Students at this medical school think that their psychiatric training has been valuable.
	Item 34: Less time should be spent in the medical curriculum teaching psychiatry to medical students.
	Item 35: Psychiatric rotations are well structured and informative.
Psychiatry is so amorphous that it cannot really be taught effectively [21].	Item 36: Psychiatry is so vague and imprecise it cannot really be taught effectively.
These days psychiatry is the most important part of the curriculum in medical schools [21].	Item 37: Psychiatric rotations should not be mandatory.