Medical Students’ Judgments of Mind and Brain in the Etiology and Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders

Given the importance of how medical students conceptualize psychiatric illness along the biological-psychological spectrum, it is surprising that little has been written about this phenomenon or about the factors that contribute to it. The authors designed a questionnaire to assess how medical students view mind and brain issues in psychiatry as they relate to the treatment and etiology of psychiatric disorders. Seventy-nine third-year medical students completed the questionnaire midway through their 8-week clerkship. Results indicated that third-year medical students weigh both psychological and biological factors in a balanced way when considering the etiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders.