Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to encourage more (a) prospective and (b) current medical students to specialise in psychiatry.
Students receive taught modules on mental health and psychiatry in years three and four of their medical degrees with the opportunity for specialist mental health units or clinical placements from year four onwards. There are significant core learning requirements in relation to mental health set out by the GMC and each University ensures these are fulfilled.
The GMC also require all medical schools to provide support for the consideration of postgraduate careers and each school has their own way of doing this. Each of the medical schools have a ‘PsychSoc’ attached to them. These societies are funded by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and work with the medical schools to encourage and support medical students into a career within psychiatric fields.