Context: Too few junior doctors enter into psychiatry training, contributing to a bi-national shortage of psychiatrists. Following an Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee review of Psychiatry Training in 1999 it was recommended that there be an increase in the number of first year trainees to 131. For 2001 and 2002 this target was close to being met. However, since that time there has been a concerning decline in the number of first year trainees.
Objectives:
To review the scientific evidence for strategies which enhance the uptake of pre-vocational doctors entering into psychiatry training.
To compare these strategies to those currently utilised by services and training programs in Australia.
Key messages: There is good evidence that exposing pre-vocational trainee doctors to positive experiences in psychiatry enhances recruitment.
Conclusion: Although the importance of the pre-vocational training experience has been recognised binationally, a more active and coordinated approach is required. This should be focussed at a local level in order to arrest the current trend in poor psychiatry trainee recruitment.
