Developing a guide to choose psychiatry in Spain

Abstract

Introduction

Choosing a medical specialty is not easy. In Spain, when medical students finish the university degree, they have to take an exam called popularly MIR if they want to start a specialty. If the exam is passed, that person receives a number result of his academic record during university and test result. The number indicates the order of election, so number 1 chooses specialty and hospital first and so on. The Spanish healthcare system offers between 220 and 250 places to start the Specialty of Psychiatry in 121 hospitals across Spain.

Methods

We designed a semi-structured questionnaire with 30 questions specific for the purpose of this work. The questionnaire was spread by social networks and email to reach as many medical doctors undertaking postgraduate training in psychiatry as we could.

Results

One hundred and thirty people responded to the questionnaire. Fifteen were not psychiatry trainees. We obtained information from 80 hospitals (66%). Thirty-three hospitals (41%) have specific training in psychotherapy. Sixty-nine (86%) apply electroconvulsive therapy regularly. Teaching during training is given together with psychologists and nurses in 36 hospitals (45%), with psychologists in 32 (40%), only psychiatry trainees in 12 (15%). Psychiatry trainees do general emergency guards in 62 hospitals (77%).

Conclusion

At the moment of writing this, the guide has been consulted by 14,600 people and visited over 40,000 times. This guide may help medical students to discover Psychiatry Training and to choose the best hospital that fits their interests.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.