Reasons for Choosing Psychiatry as a Career Specialty in Scotland: A Mixed-Methods Study

Psychiatry is a medical specialty where vacancies have consistently remained unfilled. To facilitate recruitment, it is important to identify what motivates trainees to choose psychiatry. This study aimed to explore the reasons regarding the choice of psychiatry as a career specialty among core and higher psychiatry trainees in Scotland. This was a mixed-methods study based on a questionnaire that included open-text and Likert-type scale responses. All psychiatry trainees in Scotland were approached via NHS Education for Scotland to participate in the study. Eighty-three trainees (46 core and 37 higher psychiatry trainees) with a mean age of 31.87 years returned completed questionnaires. Trainees provided their views by selecting responses to indicate the extent of importance of the statements in their decision-making process. The reasons to choose psychiatry were diverse, covering the specialty-specific, training, personal and social aspects of life as a trainee. Important reasons were personal interest, satisfaction associated with patients’ recovery, good work–life balance, influence of supportive supervisors and mentors and availability of subspecialty options. More than 90% of the respondents planned to continue working as psychiatrists in the future. These findings may offer utility in addressing psychiatry training vacancies and in helping to recruit clinicians to the specialty within Scotland.