The magic of Psychiatry Quiz for undergraduates 

Volume 13 Issues 9 September, 2023

Karnataka had undergraduate psychiatry quiz programs for a long time; this continues even today. One was prize examinations on Multiple Choice Questions across the state simultaneously in respective colleges, and answer scripts were mailed to organisers affiliated with one institution (who do the task in rotation). They evaluate and declare the top three prize winners annually and one or two consolations. There was another national quiz, where a team of two participants from medical colleges across the state competed and won, then proceeded to zone level. If they won, they went to the national championship at the annual national conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS). As young faculty, we took it seriously and made it a big event with prizes from the department, even at an institutional level. Notifications specially designed for the institution would be put up everywhere. Taking one more step ahead, all participants were given refreshments from the institution during department written exams!! Whenever state-level team quiz programs were organised, institutions would arrange exclusive buses as travel arrangements for students to another district, something that was never heard of !! It is another matter that successive batches from the institution went on to win psychiatry quiz prizes against all odds at all levels and bring in a lot of credit to us as faculty. Special photo sessions were held with the Principal to recognise the winners of quiz competitions. The whole experience is worth replicating in every institution, as we need more undergraduates to appreciate psychiatry through the magic of quiz programs.