Table 2.

Balon attitudes towards psychiatry – baseline and follow-up agreement, and significance

	Baseline	Follow-up	McNemars
	Agree (%)	Agree (%)
	Disagree (%)	Disagree (%)
Overall merits of psychiatry
1. Psychiatric research has made good strides in advancing care of the major mental disorders	94	96	NS
	6	4
2. Psychiatry is a rapidly expanding frontier of medicine	87	91	NS
	13	9
3. Psychiatry is unscientific and imprecise	16	19	NS
	84	81
Efficacy
4. If someone in my family was very emotionally upset and the situation did not seem to be improving, I would recommend a psychiatric consultation	83	91	NS
	17	9
5. Psychiatric consultation for medical or surgical patients is often helpful	90	93	NS
	10	7
6. Psychiatric treatment is helpful to most people who receive it	91	91	NS
	9	9
Role, definition and functioning of Psychiatrists
7. Psychiatry is not a genuine and valid branch of medicine	5	4	NS
	95	96
8. Most psychiatrists are clear, logical thinkers	93	94	NS
	7	6
9. With few exceptions, clinical psychologists and social workers are just as qualified as psychiatrists to diagnose and treat emotionally disturbed persons	22	28	NS
	78	72
10. Among mental health professionals, psychiatrists have the most authority and influence	59	68	NS
	41	32
11. Psychiatrists are too frequently apologetic when teaching psychiatry	13	7	NS
	87	93
12. Psychiatry is too ‘biologically’ minded and not attentive enough to the patient’s personal life and psychological problems	7	9	NS
	93	91
13. Psychiatry is too analytical, theoretical, and psychodynamic, and not attentive enough to patient’s physiology	15	14	NS
	85	86
Possible abuse and social criticism
14. Psychiatrists frequently abuse their legal power to hospitalise patients against their will	3	5	NS
	97	95
15. On average, psychiatrists make as much money as most other doctors	64	68	NS
	36	32
Career and personal reward
16. Psychiatry has a low prestige among the general public	52	47	NS
	48	53
17. Psychiatry has a high status among other medical disciplines	22	17	NS
	78	83
18. Many people who could not obtain a residency position in other specialities eventually enter psychiatry	15	17	NS
	85	83
19. Psychiatry is a discipline filled with international medical graduates whose skills are of low quality	5	9	NS
	95	91
20. My family would discourage me from entering psychiatry	32	37	NS
	68	63
21. Friends and fellow students would discourage me from entering psychiatry	28	35	NS
	72	65
22. If a student expresses interest in psychiatry, he or she risks being associated with a group of other would-be psychiatrists who are often seen by others as odd, peculiar or neurotic	30	30	NS
	70	70
23. I feel uncomfortable with mentally ill patients	44	16	0.001
	56	84
Specific medical school factors
24. Teaching of psychiatry at my medical school is interesting and of good quality	75	93	0.001
	25	7
25. During my psychiatry rotation, psychiatry residents were good role models	N/A	89	N/A
	N/A	11
26. Attending psychiatrists during my psychiatry rotation were good role models	N/A	92	N/A
	N/A	8
27. Most psychiatrists at my medical school are clear, logical thinkers	93	98	NS
	7	2
28. Most non-psychiatry staff at my medical school are respectful of psychiatry	80	85	NS
	20	15
29. Although I am interested in psychiatry, no effort was made to encourage my becoming a psychiatrist at my medical school	40	23	0.001
	60	77