jats:sec <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title> jats:pIn previous research, personality and exposure to psychiatry were independently shown to shape medical students attitudes towards psychiatry (ATP). This paper aims to investigate the role of psychiatry placements and personality types on medical student attitudes towards psychiatry (ATP).</jats:p> </jats:sec> jats:sec <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title> jats:pAll medical students from four consecutive years at Cambridge University, UK were invited to take part in an online questionnaire including the ATP-30 Questionnaire and The Big Five Factor personality Inventory (BFI).</jats:p> </jats:sec> jats:sec <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title> jats:pStudents who had completed their psychiatry placement had more positive ATP than students who had not (t = −3.24, adjusted p = 0.004). However, this was not reflected in an increased self-reported likelihood of choosing psychiatry as a career (t = 0.28, adjusted p = 0.78). Higher agreeable personality scores were associated with both a higher willingness to take up psychiatry as a career (linear model estimate 0.06; p = 0.03), and more positive ATP (linear model estimate 0.14; p < 0.0001).</jats:p> </jats:sec> jats:sec <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title> jats:pThis work seems to confirm that exposure to psychiatry improves attitudes towards psychiatry. Agreeable personality traits were also associated with a higher willingness to take up psychiatry postgraduate training. These findings might help shape future campaigns to improve the profile of psychiatry training. Future research on this topic is needed to address whether improved ATP among medical students can longitudinally improve recruitment into post-graduate psychiatry training.</jats:p> </jats:sec>