Inspiring Careers in Mental Health: Piloting a Pipeline Program for Underserved High School Students

Given mental health workforce shortages, academic psychiatry departments have a compelling interest in developing pipeline programs. This article examines a pilot program for high school students within an academic psychiatry department, assessing whether it successfully informs students about mental health career options and increases their interest in them.

The authors recruited all program participants in 2022 and 2023 during data collection. The program served as an intervention, teaching participants about mental health career options, clinical practice, and client experiences via presentations from psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. Participants completed a pretest at the start of the two-week program and a posttest at the end. On both the pretest and posttest, participants rated their agreement with 22 statements relating to mental health career knowledge, attitudes, and interest. The authors analyzed the data using dependent means t tests.

The program increased participants’ knowledge of the roles and paths to pursuing different mental health careers. It also increased participants’ belief that they could pursue a mental health career. The program improved some but not all measured attitudes toward mental health and mental health careers. In 2023, the program increased participants’ likelihood of pursuing a mental health career.

A pipeline program for underserved high school students delivered by an academic psychiatry department is feasible, and it was effective in changing attitudes and increasing the likelihood of pursuing a mental health career.