The 1982 first-year resident in psychiatry

A 197-item questionnaire was distributed to the 541 medical students who matched into first-year postgraduate positions in psychiatry in 1982. The questionnaire obtained basic personal data, career plans before entering medical school, experiences in medical school, factors relating to selection of residency program, future plans, and attitude toward personal psychotherapy. The authors report the results for the 274 residents who completed the questionnaire (51% of the students). They explore the finding that first-year psychiatric residents do not plan careers in areas that the National Institute of Mental Health has defined as having priority--children and the aged.