Factors Affecting Specialist Psychiatry Training in South Africa: Are Psychiatry Residents Satisfied with Their Training?

The authors investigated South African psychiatry residents’ satisfaction with their training, physical, and mental health to inform the development of a strategy to improve the quality and experiences of training. A cross-sectional online survey was undertaken to assess the factors affecting residents’ satisfaction with their current training program. The authors conducted a comparative analysis of residents across the training institutions in South Africa. Of 179 psychiatry residents in the country, 70 responses were received (39.1% response rate). Most were satisfied with the overall quality of their training, various aspects of training, and access to training resources. However, significant differences across universities were identified with regard to residents’ perception of the quality of their training, quality of their experiences, access to training resources, quality of supervision, and clinical workload. More than a quarter were dissatisfied with their mental and/or physical health. The top four factors contributing to stress were all training-related. While most residents were satisfied with their specialist training, institutional differences in access to training and training resources, quality of training, and availability of quality supervision were evident and need to be addressed to ensure equitable training. There is a need to actively address staff shortages not only for clinical cover during protected academic time but also to meet training needs. A centralized examination process should remain in place to ensure that there is a national standard. Workplace-based assessments could facilitate standardization across institutions, should these assessments be standardized and accompanied by rigorous training of supervisors.